money makes the world go around. Economies depend on the exchange of money for products and services. Economists define money, where it comes from, and what it is worth. Here are versatile features of money
medium of exchange
Before the developments of a medium of exchange - that is, money , people would barter to obtain the goods and services they needed. Two persons, each of whom wanted some goods, would enter into an agreement for trade
key takeaways
Currency is a medium of exchange; It allows people to get what they need to live.
Bartering was a method by which people exchanged goods for other goods before making money.
Like gold and other precious metals, money is valued because for most people it represents a valuable thing.
Fiat money is a government-issued currency not backed by a physical commodity but by the stability of the issuing government.
Commodity money solved these problems. Commodity money is a type of good that acts as a currency. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, for example, American colonists used beaver pails and dried corn in transactions. Accepting commonly accepted prices, these items were used to buy and sell other items. Items used for trade had certain characteristics: they were widely desired and, therefore, valuable, but they were durable, portable, and easily stored.
Another advanced example of commodity money is precious metals like gold. For centuries, gold was used to backup paper currency until the 1970s. For example, in the case of the US dollar, this meant that foreign governments were able to take their dollars and exchange with the US Federal Reserve for gold at a specified rate. Interestingly, unlike beaver pellets and dried corn (which can be used for clothes and food, respectively), gold is purely precious because people want it. It's not necessarily useful - you can't eat gold, and it won't keep you warm at night, but most people think it's beautiful, and they know it's beautiful. So, gold is something that has value. Therefore, gold acts as a physical token of wealth based on people's perceptions
Create impressions everything
The second type of money is fiat money, which does not require the support of a physical object. Instead, the value of fiat currencies is determined by people's confidence in supply and demand and its value. Fiat money developed because gold was a scarce resource, and fast-growing economies were not always sufficient to scale back their money supply requirements. For a rapidly growing economy, the need for gold to give value to money is highly inefficient, especially when its value is actually built by people's perceptions.
Fiat money becomes a token of people's perception, for which money is made. An economy that is developing is clearly succeeding in producing other things that are valuable to themselves and other economies. The stronger the economy, the stronger its money will be considered (and subsequently sought) and vice versa. However people perceptions must be support by an economy that can produces the products and services that people want ?
For example, in 1971, the US dollar was removed from the gold standard - the dollar could no longer be redeemed in gold, and the price of gold was no longer fixed to any dollar amount. This meant that it was now possible to make more paper money than gold to return it; The health of the American economy supported the value of the dollar. If the economy stagnates, the value of the US dollar will fall domestically through inflation and currency exchange rates internationally. The implications of the American economy plunged the world into a financial dark era, so many other countries and institutions are working tirelessly to ensure that this never happens.
Today, the value of a currency (not only the dollar, but most currencies) is determined purely by its purchasing power, as determined by inflation. That is why simply printing new money will not create wealth for any country. Money is created by an ongoing dialogue between real, concrete things, our desire for them, and our intangible belief in value. Money is valuable because we want it, but we want it only because it can get us a desired product or service
How Is Money Measured?
- But how much money is there really, and what form does it take? Economists and investors ask the question whether there is inflation or deflation. Money is separated into three categories so that it is more sensible for measurement purposes:
- M1 - This category of wealth includes all physical values of coins and currency; Demand deposits, which are checking accounts and now accounts; And checking of passengers. This category of money is the narrowest of the three, and essentially money is used to buy and pay for things (see the "Active Money" section below).
- M2 - With broad criteria, this category combines all the money found in M1 into all time-related deposits, deposits in savings accounts and non-institutional money market funds. This category represents money that can be easily transferred to cash.
- M3 - The most comprehensive class of funds, M3 combines all the money found in the M2 definition and includes all big time deposits, institutional money market funds, short term repurchase agreements, along with other large liquid assets.
- By combining these three categories together, we reach the money supply of a country or the total amount of money within an economy
Active money
How money is made
We have discussed why and how money, representing perceived value, is created in the economy, but another important factor related to money and the economy is how a country's central bank (the central bank in the United States Federal Reserve or the Fed Is)) can affect and manipulate the money supply.
If the Fed wants to increase the amount of money in circulation, perhaps to boost economic activity, central banks can certainly print it. However, the physical bill is only a small part of the money supply.
Another way for is central bank increase to the money supply is to buy government fixed-income securities in the market. When the central bank buys these government securities, it puts money in the market, and effectively in the hands of the public. How does a central bank such as the Fed pay for it? As strange as it sounds, the central bank simply makes money and transfers the securities to those who sell it. Alternatively, the Fed may lower interest rates allowing banks to expand low-cost loans or loans - a phenomenon known as cheap money - and allow businesses and individuals to borrow and To encourage spending.
To reduce the money supply, perhaps to reduce inflation, the central bank vice versa and sells government securities. The money with which the buyer pay the central bank is essentially takens out of circulation. Keep in mind that we are generalizing in this example to keep things simple.
A central bank cannot print money without end. If too much money is released, the value of that currency will be in line with the law of supply and demand.
Remember, as long as people have confidence in the currency, a central bank can issue more. But if the Fed releases too much money, the price will come down, because nothing with more supply than demand. Therefore, the central bank cannot simply print the money as it wants.
History of american money
Currency war
In the 17th century, Great Britain was determined to take control of both the American colonies and the natural resources they controlled. To do this, the British limited the money supply and made it illegal for the colonies to mine their own coins. Instead a colonie were forced to trade using English bills of exchange that could only be redeemed for English goods. The colonist were paid with these same bill for their goods, effectively cutting them off from doing business with other countries.
In response, the colonies used ammo, tobacco, nails, pellets, and anything else they could trade, using the ammo system. The colonists also collected whatever foreign currencies were the most popular ones, the largest being the silver Spanish dollars. These were called pieces of eight, because when you had to make changes, you took out your knife and cut it into eight bits. From this, we have an expression of "two bits", which means a quarter of a dollar
Massachusetts Money
Massachusetts was the first colony to discredit the motherland. In 1652, the state minted its own silver coins, including Oak Tree and Pine Tree Shilling. The state brushed aside British law, stating that only the emperors of the British Empire could issue coins by dating all of their coins in 1652, a time when there was no emperor. In 1690, Massachusetts also issued the first paper money, called the Bill of
Credit.
In February 1863 ,, the U.S. Congress passed the National Bank Act. This act a established a monetary system whereby national banks issued note backed by U.S. government bonds. The U.S. Treasury then work to get state bank notes out of circulation so that the national bank notes would become the only
currency.
After the civil war
In February 1863, the US Congress passed the National Bank Act. The act established a monetary system whereby national banks issued notes backed by US government bonds. The US is Treasury then acted to keep the State Bank note out of circulation so that the national bank would become the sole currency of the notes.
During this period of reconstruction, bipartisan standards were debated. Some advocated using just silver to return the dollar, some advocated gold. The situation was settled in 1900 , when the Golds Standards Act was passed, making gold the only support for the dollar. This support meant that, in theory, you could take your paper money and exchange it for the same value in gold. In 1913, Federal Reserve was created and was given the power to run the economy by controlling interest rates on money supply and debt.
Bottom-line
Money has changed considerably since the days of shells and skins, but its main function has not changed at all. Regardless of what form it is, money gives us a means of exchanging goods and services and allows the economy to grow as transactions can be completed at a greater pace.
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