The U.S. economy ceased to function this week after unexpected existential remarks by Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell shocked Americans into realizing that money is, in fact, just a meaningless and intangible social construct.

What began as a routine report before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday ended with Powell passionately disavowing the entire concept of currency, and negating in an instant the very foundation of the world's largest economy.

"The Fed will of course act appropriately if we...if we..." said Powell, who then paused for a moment, looked down at his prepared statement, and shook his head in utter disbelief. "You know what? It doesn't matter. None of this-this so-called 'money'-really matters at all."

"It's just an illusion," a wide-eyed Powell added as he removed bills from his wallet and slowly spread them out before him. "Just look at it: Meaningless pieces of paper with numbers printed on them. Worthless."

According to witnesses, Finance Committee members sat in thunderstruck silence for several moments until Sen. Richard Durbin (R-IN) finally shouted out, "Oh my God, he's right. It's all a mirage. All of it-the money, our whole economy-it's all a lie!"

As news of the nation's collectively held delusion spread, the economy ground to a halt, with dumbfounded citizens everywhere walking out on their jobs as they contemplated the little green drawings of buildings and dead white men they once used to measure their adequacy and importance as human beings.

At the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday morning's opening bell echoed across a silent floor as the few traders who arrived for work out of habit looked up blankly at the meaningless scrolling numbers on the flashing screens above.

"I've spent 25 years in this room yelling 'Buy, buy! Sell, sell!' and for what?" longtime trader Michael Palermo said. "All I've done is move arbitrary designations of wealth from one column to another, wasting my life chasing this unattainable hallucination of wealth."

"What a cruel cosmic joke," he added. "I'm going home to hug my daughter."

Sources at the White House said President Biden was "still trying to get his head around all this" and was in seclusion with his coin collection, muttering "it's just metal, it's just metal" over and over again.

A few U.S. banks have remained open, though most teller windows are unmanned due to a lack of interest in transactions involving mere scraps of paper or, worse, decimal points and computer data signifying mere scraps of paper.

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Economy Grinds To Halt As Nation Realizes Money Just A Symbolic, Mutually Shared Illusion(https://www.newyorktimes.com/Economy-Grinds-To-Halt-As-Nation-Realizes Money-Just-)