This post contains the fifth video in my Economics Basics series. We are now going to take a look at money and the role it has to play in trade. This video describes the characteristics of money such as durability, divisibility, measure of account, medium of exchange, and store of value. The video also takes into consideration the effort and work required to obtain money (coins such as gold and silver) and why it is important that whatever is used as currency has value in its own right.
The problems with fiat money and digital money is highlighted. These currencies have values based on faith as they are not supported by a physical asset of value such as gold. A few countries that have had their economies destroyed because their currencies have not been able to hold their value have been briefly mentioned to demonstrate the dangers of fiat money. The question of greed is also revisited. Does having a medium of exchange resolve the issue of greed or does it perpetuate it? The question of who controls money is also raised? The creation and manipulation of money is not covered in this video but will be discussed in a later video.
The video can be watched at the link below:
The next video takes a look at authority. Is authority necessary, does it resolve or perpetuate the problems raised so far in this series?
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