Jump to content
UnevenEdge

Recommended Posts

Posted

At its core, money is a social technology. It’s not a natural substance like gold or water—it’s something humans created to make exchange, trust, and measurement possible in large societies. Economists usually describe money through three primary functions:

Medium of exchange – Money lets people trade without bartering. Instead of swapping goats for grain directly, you can sell a goat for money and later use that money to buy grain—or anything else. This removes the “coincidence of wants” problem.

Unit of account – Money provides a standard way to measure value. Prices, debts, and wages all become comparable when expressed in a common unit (like dollars, yen, or euros).

Store of value – Money preserves value over time. You can work today, save your wages, and spend them later. (Of course, inflation or instability can weaken this function.)

Historically, money has taken many forms:

Commodity money (things with intrinsic value, like gold, silver, salt, or cattle).

Representative money (paper backed by commodities—like the gold standard).

Fiat money (modern currencies not backed by a physical good, but by government decree and trust in stability).

Digital money (bank deposits, credit entries, cryptocurrencies).

The unifying element is trust. Money only works because people collectively believe in and accept it. Without that shared belief, the tokens—metal, paper, or digital bits—are just objects.

 Sponsored by ChatGPT.

  • Like 1
Posted
2 hours ago, ghostrek said:

credit cards or debit card, no paper money 

I just used cash at Arby's...who won't let you use cash?

Granted, I dont care for cash.... I just can't avoid having it sometimes...but I have zero problems getting rid of it.

Posted
3 hours ago, Insipid said:

At its core, money is a social technology. It’s not a natural substance like gold or water—it’s something humans created to make exchange, trust, and measurement possible in large societies. Economists usually describe money through three primary functions:

Medium of exchange – Money lets people trade without bartering. Instead of swapping goats for grain directly, you can sell a goat for money and later use that money to buy grain—or anything else. This removes the “coincidence of wants” problem.

Unit of account – Money provides a standard way to measure value. Prices, debts, and wages all become comparable when expressed in a common unit (like dollars, yen, or euros).

Store of value – Money preserves value over time. You can work today, save your wages, and spend them later. (Of course, inflation or instability can weaken this function.)

Historically, money has taken many forms:

Commodity money (things with intrinsic value, like gold, silver, salt, or cattle).

Representative money (paper backed by commodities—like the gold standard).

Fiat money (modern currencies not backed by a physical good, but by government decree and trust in stability).

Digital money (bank deposits, credit entries, cryptocurrencies).

The unifying element is trust. Money only works because people collectively believe in and accept it. Without that shared belief, the tokens—metal, paper, or digital bits—are just objects.

 Sponsored by ChatGPT.

wow  ok that's deep 

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...