what is money

[dreamdancer 0]

it's been around a long time (but only a fraction of the time that barter has) and is one of, if not the most, powerful tools we have ever created - alongside language and mathematics (money could be considered a synthesis of the two). we now use a strange form called 'credit' money.

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The use of barter like methods may date back to at least 100,000 years ago. Trading in red ochre is attested in Swaziland, shell jewellery in the form of strung beads also dates back to this period, and had the basic attributes needed of commodity money. To organize production and to distribute goods and services among their populations, before market economies existed, people relied on tradition, top-down command, or community cooperation.

The Shekel referred to an ancient unit of weight and currency. The first usage of the term came from Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC. and referred to a specific mass of barley which related other values in a metric such as silver, bronze, copper etc. A barley/shekel was originally both a unit of currency and a unit of weight.

According to Herodotus, and most modern scholars, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coin. It is thought that these first stamped coins were minted around 650-600 BC.A stater coin was made in the stater (trite) denomination. To complement the stater, fractions were made: the trite (third), the hekte (sixth), and so forth in lower denominations.

The name of Croesus of Lydia became synonymous with wealth in antiquity. Sardis was renowned as a beautiful city. Around 550 BC, Croesus contributed money for the construction of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

The first banknotes were used in China in the 7th century, and the first in Europe issued by Stockholms Banco in 1661.

In the Western world, a prevalent term for coin-money has been specie, stemming from Latin in specie "in kind".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money#History_of_money

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[dreamdancer 0]

new scientist has an article this week on 'why money messes with your mind'

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"Money seems to have symbolic power as a social resource," says Vohs. "It enables people to manipulate the social system to give them what they want, regardless of whether they are liked." Put bluntly, it looks as if money is acting as a surrogate friend. Could that explain why some people focus on extrinsic aspirations at the expense of real social relationships?

Psychologists Stephen Lea at the University of Exeter, UK, and Paul Webley at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, have suggested another reason for unhealthy and obsessive attitudes to money. They believe that it acts on our minds rather like an addictive drug, giving it the power to drive some of us to compulsive gambling, overwork or obsessive spending (Behavioral and Brain Sciences, vol 29, p 161). "It is an interesting possibility that all these are manifestations of a broader addiction to money," says Lea. Compulsion appears to be a problem for people with several money-related disorders which are increasingly being identified by psychologists (see "Money problems").

Lea and Webley propose that money, like nicotine or cocaine, can activate the brain's pleasure centres, the neurological pathways that make biologically beneficial activities such as sex feel so rewarding. Of course, money does not physically enter the brain but it might work in a similar way to pornographic text, argue Lea and Webley, which can cause arousal not by giving any biochemical or physiological stimuli, but by acting through the mind and emotions.

Some evidence for the notion of "addiction" to money comes from brain imaging studies. In one experiment, for example, a team led by Samuel McClure, a psychologist at Princeton University, asked volunteers to choose between receiving a voucher for Amazon.com right then, or a higher-value one a few weeks later. Those who chose the instant reward showed brain activity in the areas linked with emotion, especially the limbic system, which is known to be involved in much impulsive behaviour and drug addiction. Those choosing the delayed reward showed activity in areas such as the prefrontal cortex known to be involved in rational planning (Science, vol 306, p 503).

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20127001.200-why-money-messes-with-your-mind.html?page=2

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[Bolas 5]

The whole concept of money is really perception.

We are told this paper and/or these numbers/bits have value and because we believe it, it is true.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[TomAiello 26]

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The whole concept of money is really perception.

We are told this paper and/or these numbers/bits have value and because we believe it, it is true.

No, that's the concept of modern (fiat) currency.

Traditionally, "money" usually had intrinsic value.

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[Bolas 5]

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The whole concept of money is really perception.

We are told this paper and/or these numbers/bits have value and because we believe it, it is true.

No, that's the concept of modern (fiat) currency.

Traditionally, "money" usually had intrinsic value.

When it was based on food, yes. Once they started basing it on gold, silver, etc it became perceived value.

Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

[TomAiello 26]

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When it was based on food, yes. Once they started basing it on gold, silver, etc it became perceived value.

What if we based it on other commodities? I could make an argument that a barrel of oil is a unit of "currency" in international exchange.

-- Tom Aiello

Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com
SnakeRiverBASE.com

[billvon 3,118]

>When it was based on food, yes. Once they started basing it on gold, silver, etc
>it became perceived value.

Well, not really. Gold has inherent value derived from its desirability, usefulness and rarity. Some forms of paper money are indeed backed up by gold (or silver, or even oil) and represent something real. Fiat money is completely artificial; it is made of something less valuable (like paper) and cannot be exchanged directly for a like quantity of a valuable material.

[cliffwhite 0]

What if we based it on other commodities? I could make an argument that a barrel of oil is a unit of "currency" in international exchange.

[cliffwhite 0]

Fiat money is completely artificial; it is made of something less valuable (like paper) and cannot be exchanged directly for a like quantity of a valuable material.

[dreamdancer 0]

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The whole concept of money is really perception.

We are told this paper and/or these numbers/bits have value and because we believe it, it is true.

i think money is, at root, a promise. if two barter traders can't quite agree a straight swap for their goods, or there is a time element then money is created (i'll trade you twenty pelts for ten axes - but two of the pelts i'll have to deliver later - here take my promise of delivery; ie 'money').

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[shropshire 0]

It's the root of all evil

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[dreamdancer 0]

love of

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[dreamdancer 0]

coming soon, the world's first global currency...

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US backing for world currency stuns markets

Tim Geithner shocked global markets by revealing that Washington is "quite open" to Chinese proposals for the gradual development of a global reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund.

The dollar plunged instantly against the euro, yen, and sterling as the comments flashed across trading screens. David Bloom, currency chief at HSBC, said the apparent policy shift amounts to an earthquake in geo-finance.

"The mere fact that the US Treasury Secretary is even entertaining thoughts that the dollar may cease being the anchor of the global monetary system has caused consternation," he said.

Mr Geithner later qualified his remarks, insisting that the dollar would remain the "world's dominant reserve currency ... for a long period of time" but the seeds of doubt have been sown.

The markets appear baffled by the confused statements emanating from Washington. President Barack Obama told a new conference hours earlier that there was no threat to the reserve status of the dollar.

"I don't believe that there is a need for a global currency. The reason the dollar is strong right now is because investors consider the United States the strongest economy in the world with the most stable political system in the world," he said.

The Chinese proposal, outlined this week by central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, calls for a "super-sovereign reserve currency" under IMF management, turning the Fund into a sort of world central bank.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/5050407/US-backing-for-world-currency-stuns-markets.html

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