TIDE DETERGENT CONSIDERED AS MONEY.

TIDE DETERGENT CONSIDERED AS MONEY. Every so often in the past few years I have seen a report of a shoplifter taking packages of Tide from a local store. I have not understood this because I would think that small high-value items would be the target of shoplifting, and Tide is bulky and has low value for its bulk. Ben Paynter in this article in New York magazine (February 14-21) says that lots of people are stealing Tide all over the country and explains why they are. He begins with a story about a supermarket in Maryland which had raided over time by over two dozen thieves, working in crews. The losses were between $10,000 and $15,000 a month. He says that: “Tide bottles have become ad hoc street currency, with a 150-ounce bottle going for either $5 cash or $10 worth of weed or crack cocaine.” The bottles perform some of basic functions of money. They are useful as a medium of exchange, being widely accepted by, among others, drug dealers because they are readily disposed of to any number of small retailers, without presenting the risks of fencing valuable items. A bottle, once stolen is impossible to trace. And the low prices of the bottles make the crime only misdemeanor shoplifting if one is caught.