If somebody builds an airplane with phony high-strength fasteners, the problem is still quite real.

It doesn't matter if the money is fake. It has been declared "money," and for a lot of modern finance, that's all it takes to create problems if it vanishes.

I have heard people wonder about why the government doesn't just declare the national debt "gone," and start from scratch. The problem is that the monetary constructions that comprise that debt are the foundation for many other financial transactions. That money may exist only on balance sheets, but it's very real.

Once you've dressed up the dead King's long-lost twin and pushed him out onto the platform in front of the crowd, from then on you've got to run with it.