Free Talk Live

Criminals around the country are stealing an inordinate number of bottles of Tide laundry detergent. On the street, Tide is known as “liquid gold.” Harrison Sprague of the Prince George’s County, Maryland, Police Department says that his undercover agents are asking for drugs but being offered Tide instead. They are busting drug rings and finding more blue liquid than white powder. The driving force here is a war on the dollar. Carrying around vast amounts of cash raises questions among the authorities. People aren’t acquiring Tide to wash their clothes, but rather to trade for other things, like drugs. In a limited sense, then, Tide is being used to facilitate indirect exchange. That is to say, it has become a money.