One thing being a copy editor has taught me is how much I hate the dollar sign. It's an idiotic symbol for the following reasons:

1) Like the worst abbreviation ever, lbs., $ (in addition to no one knowing where it's one line or two) bears absolutely not discernable relationship to what it's supposed to represent.

2) More importantly, it goes in the wrong place. Compare "11 dollars" to "$11." Now compare "20 billion dollars" to "$20 billion." We should be writing "11$" and "20 billion $" or else come up with something better.

That is all.