Gorilla
04-05-2006, 10:42 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money
Money is any good or token used by a society as a medium of exchange, store of value and unit of account.
Trade without money requires direct bartering of one commodity for another or some other way of conducting trade. Bartering is often inefficient because it requires a coincidence of wants between traders. Consequently tokens that represent and store value usually become accepted as a medium of exchange. This is money.
The value of money emerges in no small part from its utility as a medium of exchange, however its utility as a medium of exchange depends on it having recognised market value. Hence these two aspects of money are interdependent.
Commodity money was the first form of money to emerge. Under a commodity money system, the object used as money has inherent value. It is usually adopted to simplify transactions in a barter economy; thus it functions first as a medium of exchange. It quickly begins functioning as a store of value, since holders of perishable goods can easily convert them into durable money. In modern economies, commodity money has also been used as a unit of account. Gold-backed currency notes are a common form of commodity money.
Fiat money is a relatively modern invention. A central authority (government) creates a new money object that has negligible inherent value. The widespread acceptance of fiat money is most frequently enhanced by the central authority mandating the money's acceptance under penalty of law and demanding this money in payment of taxes or tribute. At various times in history government issued promissory notes have later become fiat currencies (US dollar) and fiat currencies have gone on to become a form of commodity currency (Swiss Dinar).
Does anyone have any good links relating to the philosophy of money? Money as we know it has no intrinsic value, and is used between parties who recognize it's agreed value. The vast majority seem to be of the belief that money has value, though this value is only the agreement of 99.999 percent of our given country that the worth of the money is its' stated value.
Given that money is only worth something in the social sense, then:
#If we are importing more goods than exporting, then are we in fact becoming richer? If a nation built a mint, then sent the money overseas, and recieved goods in return, is the money recipient then the richer?
#Given new technologies, could money be internally revalued continuously for advantage? For instance, after goods are imported, could the currency then be revalued electronically, to reflect the fact that goods are worth more than money, with the goods getting valued?
#Is sending ships with cargo holds full of cash to the third world in essence a contracting of labour of the first world to the third, with the end result that the first world economies are working to support the third world? Live 8 comes to mind.
Money is any good or token used by a society as a medium of exchange, store of value and unit of account.
Trade without money requires direct bartering of one commodity for another or some other way of conducting trade. Bartering is often inefficient because it requires a coincidence of wants between traders. Consequently tokens that represent and store value usually become accepted as a medium of exchange. This is money.
The value of money emerges in no small part from its utility as a medium of exchange, however its utility as a medium of exchange depends on it having recognised market value. Hence these two aspects of money are interdependent.
Commodity money was the first form of money to emerge. Under a commodity money system, the object used as money has inherent value. It is usually adopted to simplify transactions in a barter economy; thus it functions first as a medium of exchange. It quickly begins functioning as a store of value, since holders of perishable goods can easily convert them into durable money. In modern economies, commodity money has also been used as a unit of account. Gold-backed currency notes are a common form of commodity money.
Fiat money is a relatively modern invention. A central authority (government) creates a new money object that has negligible inherent value. The widespread acceptance of fiat money is most frequently enhanced by the central authority mandating the money's acceptance under penalty of law and demanding this money in payment of taxes or tribute. At various times in history government issued promissory notes have later become fiat currencies (US dollar) and fiat currencies have gone on to become a form of commodity currency (Swiss Dinar).
Does anyone have any good links relating to the philosophy of money? Money as we know it has no intrinsic value, and is used between parties who recognize it's agreed value. The vast majority seem to be of the belief that money has value, though this value is only the agreement of 99.999 percent of our given country that the worth of the money is its' stated value.
Given that money is only worth something in the social sense, then:
#If we are importing more goods than exporting, then are we in fact becoming richer? If a nation built a mint, then sent the money overseas, and recieved goods in return, is the money recipient then the richer?
#Given new technologies, could money be internally revalued continuously for advantage? For instance, after goods are imported, could the currency then be revalued electronically, to reflect the fact that goods are worth more than money, with the goods getting valued?
#Is sending ships with cargo holds full of cash to the third world in essence a contracting of labour of the first world to the third, with the end result that the first world economies are working to support the third world? Live 8 comes to mind.