This seems a needlessly churlish dig by Robert Reich:
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson calls the disconnect between the upbeat economic news and the public's downbeat attitude "the sixty-four thousand dollar question."
Paulson shows his age by referring to the title of an old TV quiz show that most Americans don't remember. In it, contestants worked their way up to a big stumper of a question which, if they answered correctly, paid them sixty-four thousand dollars.
Pshah. "The sixty-four thousand dollar question" is a perfectly acceptable pop culture reference, one that long ago transcended it's temporal roots in a game show and became a generalized saying. I'm about nine years old and even I know the phrase. So come now -- nothing sillier than aging white guys calling each other out of touch.
