Speaking of capitalism (Wednesday’s post), I will have to wait until October before I can get my grubby fingers on the new US$100 bill. The first $100 bills were issued in 1862 .. and by the end of 2010, a total of 7 billion hundred dollar notes were in circulation according to the Federal Reserve (more than two-thirds of these overseas). Of course the new note has several new security features – to make it harder for counterfeiters such as North Korea that is known in particular for producing extremely high-quality but fake $100 bills. My favorite security features from what I read on-line are the blue 3D ribbon woven into the note’s fabric, and the micro-printing reading “The United States of America” on Ben’s collar.