Batmanomics

In this week's Detective Comics #868, the leader of the impostor Jokerz issued a call for his followers to rob banks and stores and stuff, because it's "Free Money Day."

A ton of wannabes come out, too, because hey, free money, right? And after order is more or less restored:

Batman's response?

Excuse me??

Look, Batman, I know the higher priority in this situation is to stop the violence, and stop the impostor Jokerz and Batmen before more people die. Fair enough.

But couldn't you have just said, "The money's not important now--I gotta catch the bad guys"??

Instead we get, "It'll get spent. A week from now it will be back in the system"??!?!?!

Maybe it's because you're a clueless inherited billionaire, but your grasp on economics is a little bit weak. I'm not sure what "system" you're referring to, but I'm thinking those liquor stores, those gas stations, they might be missing that money a little bit, and won't be satisfied with, "well, the money's back in the system." Not to mention the taxpayers and insurance companies who will be out those bucks.

Let's try a little experiment. Head into your local comic shop, and steal some money from them (editor's note--don't do this). Now take that same money, go back inside, and use it to buy stuff from them. I'm pretty confident that the store will NOT consider that as having broken even, and there won't be a happy ending. And if you went to spend the money at some other comic shop, or 7-11? They'd be even less satisfied.

For that matter, why did you ever bother busting Riddler, Two-Face, or Penguin for robbing banks, or Catwoman for stealing art? It's not like they were going to bury the money in the back yard. They were going to spend it--so it would be "back in the system." Everybody's happy, according to you!!

I know $200,000 is a rounding error when you're balancing your checkbook, Batman. But it's real big money to some of these businesses...and doesn't not punishing criminals sort of violate your mission statement, and just encourage them to, you know, do it again?!?

So, Dick, less with the economic opining, more with the busting head, until you go back to college and finish that Econ 101 class you obviously skipped out on to hang out with Barbara and fight Tigress and Sportsmaster...

[Assuming that is Dick is Batman here, of course. There's absolutely no indication in this story, nothing whatsoever, to tell you who might be under the cowl. That's been the problem with 80% of the post-R.I.P. Dick-as-Batman stories--no real characterization differences twix Bruce and Dick. And I don't think that's what Grant Morrison intended...]