News In Brief

Even the price of money is going up

Kai Ryssdal Mar 9, 2011

This final note today, in which rising commodity prices literally hit us in the collective wallet. You might have heard that cotton prices are up, which means clothing’s more expensive.

But so is money. Actual dollar bills. Paper money, it turns out, isn’t really paper, but a blend of 75 percent cotton, 25 percent linen. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing says higher cotton prices mean bills it produced last year — regardless of face value — cost almost 10 cents to make. That’s double just a couple of years ago.

Seeing as how he government prints 6.4 billion bank notes every year, it adds up.

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