What is Money?

What is Money?

At first glance, the concept of “money” seems extremely straightforward.

For example: the cost of a loaf of bread in New York City at a grocery store may be $3.50. We don’t think about it much, and we pull out our wallets to pay with cash or a credit card.

But money is actually more complex. A very similar loaf could have been bought for:

  • 0.4 aes during the Roman Republic
  • 3 aes in Rome under Emperor Nero
  • 1 penny during Queen Elizabeth’s reign in England
  • 0.2 beaver pelts in 1795 in North America
  • $0.21 in 1965
  • $35 million Zimbabwean dollars in the midst of hyperinflation
  • 10¥ in China (equal to only $1.50 USD)
  • 35 rubles in Moscow (equal to only ~$0.55 USD)
  • 7.8 grams of silver ($14 spot price)
  • 23,000 Dogecoin cryptocurrency

Time and place clearly matters. However, which “money” you pay with also matters. What is money? [via]

What is Money?

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