Crisp Dollar Bills

"As as a rule of thumb, the more fucked-up a country, the more said country insists on crisp bills." - Eric Weiner, The Geography of Bliss

The moment I read this statement, I had to write it down. Because at least in my experience, it holds true. In Bolivia, people demand the crispest of dollar bills. The tiniest of tears or even holes from a staple will be the cause for your bill to be rejected. The same was the case in Nicaragua. At the same time, over in Chile, people have no problem with torn or crumpled dollar bills. Am I onto something? When I think back, during the toughest economic times in Bulgaria in the 1990s, torn, stained or crumpled dollar bills (or other foreign currency, for that matter) were not accepted either. Each bill you handed to a bank or foreign exchange bureau cashier would be examined thoroughly (the only thing missing was the microscope). Well, nowadays people back home don't seem to have any problems with less than perfect bills. So, why is that? Is there some unwritten rule that states that as a country heads up the ladder of economic development, its tolerance for torn bills increases? The logic somehow doesn't add up. Still, I would love to have data that would let me explore the level of correlation between a country's GDP and its acceptance of non-crisp bills. Just for fun.