Pesito pa la birra

Gran Quilombo Gran en EEUU porque algunos negocios decidieron aceptar pesos. Pero, como bien dice el artículo de Reason, el peso es el origen de dólar norteamericano y de tantas otras monedas. Hasta el “dollar sign” viene del peso:

Two hundred twenty-two years and two weeks ago today, the United States made the peso its official currency. Nonetheless, many Americans (read: Fox News) went nuts last week when Value Giant announced that it would start accepting pesos in all of its stores on Saturday, July 14, fearing an increase in peso-spending illegal immigrants to the United States.

Of course, the U.S. dollars that we know and love today were issued in 1792, but the peso continued to be recognized as the official currency of North American trade until 1857 in the United States, and until 1858 in Canada. We have a long, proud history of doing business in pesos. Our currency, along with the Straits dollar, the Hong Kong dollar, the Japanese yen, and the Chinese yuan, is modeled on the peso. We have the handy peso to thank for much of our early economic development as a nation.

Value Giant was following in the footsteps of Pizza Patrón, which generated a similar brouhaha when it pioneered its "Pizza por Pesos" program in January—exacerbating the problem posed by its patriotically dubious accent over the "o." The chain recently announced the decision to make the policy permanent at all 60 restaurant locations, including those as far north as Las Vegas. One of their specialties is the tasty "La Mexicana," topped with chorizo, ground Beef, onions, bell peppers, and jalapeños.