The Big Freddie Mac

McDonald’s Corp. held a press conference today to unveil its latest sandwich: the Big Freddie Mac. Priced at 50 cents, the Big Freddie Mac is the first fast food hamburger to be subsidized by the federal government.

“The economy - not that there’s anything wrong with it - is causing Americans to cut back on eating hamburgers,” explained McDonald’s spokesperson Donald McDonald (no relation). “Washington has decided that the burger is too big to fail, so the Treasury Department has agreed to kick in three bucks for every Big Freddie Mac sold.”

(c) The Big Picture

I.O.U.S.A

Value of money

Вспоминается история про мужика, который покупал монеты центрального банка, платил металлом зарплату, а налоги отдавал с номинала. Вот еще один способ нажухать центральный банк (был):

As of April 5, 2007 nickel was trading at $52,300 US/mt ($52.30 US/kg, $23.51 US/lb or $1.47 US/oz), [5] [6]. Interestingly, the US nickel coin contains 0.04 oz (1.25 g) of nickel, which at this new price is worth 6.5 cents, along with 3.75 grams of copper worth about 3 cents, making the metal value over 9 cents. Since a nickel is worth 5 cents, this made it an attractive target for melting by people wanting to sell the metals at a profit. However, the United States Mint, in anticipation of this practice, implemented new interim rules on December 14, 2006, subject to public comment for 30 days, which criminalize the melting and export of cents and nickels.[7] Violators can be punished with a fine of up to US$10,000 and/or imprisoned for a maximum of five years.