Simplifying Complexity, One Answer at a Time!
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Infrastructure costs would be notable. Vending machines, ATMs, and other money-receiving machines are calibrated for current cotten/linen bills.
Impetus. Changing to polymer bills would take political will and we can't manage anything productive atm.
Personally, I don't want Trump to drive the change because he would end up putting himself on the bills, and other distasteful characters from history.
Trump
he would end up putting himself on the bills
The closest example of this is from the Chinese Yuan, where Mao Zedong is depicted in all denominations. (So, it'll be the same if Trump decided to replace current issued $ into a new series with him on it).
It's not the same as with the dollar and US presidents. Mao kinda is the face and father of the modern China. (While Trump is most likely the face of the end of America as a superpower) Also neither PRC (nor ROC) are not putting fucking Emperor Pu Yis face on their bills, since everybody alt least agree to make that much of a break from from the old empire. Who do do they really have? Sun Yat-sen? All the chairmen after Mao, even Xi are kinda a smalltimers compared to him. Mao is also a symbol as much as he was a leader. It's literally the 'people's money'. The party, the people and the ideology have a tight grip on the balls of capital.
Up to 1990, PRC banknotes had different portraits. I suspect many of them were "representatives" for different types of labourer or ethnic groups rather than idolizing a single figure.
For example https://en.numista.com/211574
The 100-yuan of the series features Mao with three other early leaders of the republic, but the lower notes are representatives.
I don’t remember for certain and I’m not taking the time to look it up, but I think there are some legal restrictions as well? I’m guessing that is included in your Impetus paragraphs, since it would require congressional direction to change things.
The Treasury or whoever has actually redesigned the bills quite a bit in my lifetime and they’re more colorful than they used to be, but I think they’ve done what they can while sticking within legal parameters. Given how much some people refer to other nations’ currencies as “Monopoly Money” despite some obvious benefits I’m not holding my breath for significant changes for a while yet.
I’m glad we’re finally getting rid of the penny at least. I used to be a proponent of the $1 coin, but having spent some time in Canada and Europe I actually find $/€/£ coins annoying and heavy in actual practice.
You're supposed to add salt when you cook them, it helps bring out the flavor.
I've heard of money laundering, but this… 😁
I feel like it is a set of political battles that the US Treasury Department doesn't want to fight. Americans have been stubborn with how they use their currency. The last major push was trying to replace the dollar bill with the dollar coin and that has been a failure.
The remaking of American paper currency to be in line with the rest of the world will likely spark a massive political storm, including potentially replacing the people and places depicted on the currency. It would also mean re-educating the population on what the currency should look like.
The current $100 notes do a good enough job.
I have a better one: 500€ (Although, they stopped printing this bill as they capped it at 200€ on the newer series). Even stores in Europe refuse to accept it as payment despite being legal tender.
spoiler
IIRC—and I may not be, I can't recall where I ran across this—it's partly due to the U.S. dollar having been the world's reserve currency for so many decades. A staid and sober design was seen to play into the image of a 'serious' currency.
Because only old people who suffer death of personality when witnessing anything unfamiliar even use cash anymore. If you made plastic money that vote Satan Q. Hitler in as president just to self-soothe.