By the way, the cartoon is funny but it misses the point by oversimplifying things. From the government’s point of view, the two transactions represent an opportunity for taxation. Moreover, since people almost always seek value for the money they spend, even more so for large amounts, such frivolous transactions very rarely occur. The fact is, nobody would pay $20,000 for someone else to eat shit, and if they did, society is probably better off subsequent to them becoming $20,000 poorer anyway!