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Fall Of Empires: Rome vs USA (Hidden Secrets Of Money Ep 9)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuOcnGAv4oo

10:24/28:26

If you're going to trade in a lie, it better be a liquid lie.

A big lie?

A lie that is sprawling?

A lie that is unpredictable?

I googled and found nearly nothing useful.

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    That's an idiosyncratic figurative usage, not an often-used collocation.
    – TimR
    Nov 7, 2018 at 14:32

2 Answers 2

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"Liquid" in the context of finance and economics generally means things related to cash. As Merriam Webster defines it:

consisting of or capable of ready conversion into cash
liquid assets

The entire series where the sentence you are asking about comes from is about money and currency. Liquidity is a business concept

In business, economics or investment, market liquidity is a market's feature whereby an individual or firm can quickly purchase or sell an asset without causing a drastic change in the asset's price... Money, or cash, is the most liquid asset, because it can be "sold" for goods and services instantly with no loss of value.

As StoneyB points out: cash itself (the dollar) is the lie. It has no actual value--but it is a "lie" which passes as "truth" because it is liquid-- "it can be 'sold' for goods and services instantly with no loss of value."

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  • @StoneyB I see. It's a very apt analogy. I didn't actually watch the video clip. Nor did I know anything about the series. It appears to me the maker/producer of the series holds a very controversial and somewhat minority if not unpopular view towards cash.
    – Eddie Kal
    Nov 7, 2018 at 16:07
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Without listening to the full context, I may be mistaken here. But most likely the primary characteristic implied by metaphoric liquid would be that the lie can shift / flow / change shape.

That's to say, If you have to lie, try to use flexible lies that can be easily adapted if anyone points out any discrepancies.

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