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The historical development of money
The historical development of money
The historical development of money
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Honest Money
Biblical Principles of Money and Banking
Honest Money by Dr. Gary North is about where money originated from, the value of money, and the uses of it. It was written so we may have a better understanding of the value and purposes of money.
Daniel Defoe wrote a novel about a man whose ship sank, and who ended up on a deserted island for twenty-eight years. Economists use this book as an illustration about economics. They use it to show that in a world of almost nothing, a person has to make choices about how to achieve his goals and that value is based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions and is dependent on the mind for existence. The value of something is in terms of what he thinks it will produce for him in the future. A real historical example is the famine era in Egypt, when compared to the value of life-giving grain, money was worth nothing. In that land, voluntary exchange took place. That meant that people evaluated what the other had as more valuable and the exchange took place. That was when grain became the new form of money. Grain became the new money because it had five characteristics all forms of money have. It was divisible, portable, durable, recognizable, and scarce. If people couldn't trade forms of money, they couldn't specialize in production and increase their personal wealth. This is why people have always traded.
One of the earlier things people used to trade with was gold, which was referred to several times in the bible. It was probably where money originated from, since it had the five characteristics of money. People want to know that this is where money originated from because if we didn't know anything about money's value in the past, we would not except it's value today. Gold became one of the first common uses of money, because people recognized it's beauty and close connections with the gods. Before it became money though, it was a commodity.
Having money, wether gold or otherwise, means having to pay taxes. The state has the power over taxes. It also has the power to influence the value of a kind of money and the popularity of it, because the state is a big buying and seller of goods and services. However the state can't create money and impose it on the market if market participants don't want to use it.
The Nolan family have an old tin-can bank that they keep in a closet in their house. Katie was told to have this bank to accumulate money to buy land so she could pass it on to her children. They put as much in as they can afford every day, and it slowly accumulates little by little. This book shows that, a penny saved, is a penny earned. And that every little bit counts. It makes you realize that money is not everything.
He states that the financial system was based on competing state banks with no central bank which promoted a rapid economic growth. As the American banking system developed the money supply developed with it. The federal government began the banking system through the issuing of specie but as the capitalist system developed the banking structure developed as well. During the Civil War, the North printed Greenbacks that drove gold from the domestic circulation to help pay for war necessities. The Greenbacks, however, were rarely used in the South expressing the different economies of the North and the South at the time of the Civil War.
world began to use this item as a means of currency. Leading in the production of this element
Unfortunately for the National Government, Congress did not have any power to collect taxes from people in each individual state. The Congress could ask for money, but could not by any mean force states to pay them. The National Government greatly needed money to cover expenses and debts. Congress could not pay the Nation’s debt, which meant they could not provide much needed programs and services for the states. With that issue being addressed, it is obvious the Nation had problems with their currency. With no uniform currency for the Nation, each state came up with their individual currency. Every state’s value of a dollar had differences in what they worth. By printing their own money, the Nation’s currency became practically worthless, while the state’s currency was worth quite a bit.
Money makes exchange much easier, because people can trade their goods for money and use the money to buy other things. In the Bible money was silver or gold, a precious metal, and America was on a gold standard throughout most of her history. In 1933 we shifted to a silver standard and in 1968 our silver certificates were replaced with Federal Reserve Notes (Remy, 2008). Today’s paper money is not backed by anything except the government’s promise that it is good. Money with no precious metal backing allows the central government to spend more than it collects in taxes, because the Federal Reserve Board can print new money, thus increasing the money supply, anytime there is a need. This is what causes inflation and is one way that the Federal Reserve Board has overstepped Biblical principles in economic policy. Greg Anthony writes that “one of the Biblical signs of a nation backsliding is the condition of its currency and the degree of honesty in its weights and measures” (Anthony, 1988, p. 28). When the money supply is increased, either through printing more money or credit-expansion, the purchasing power of the dollar falls, and businesses must increase the prices they charge to keep up with their own higher costs. Inflation encourages debt, deceives people about pay increases and future wealth accumulations, is a hidden theft tax, and decreases capital available for
Gold is one of the most valuable materials all around the world. This jewel has its own glittering appearance and shiny color which induce people to desire to possess it. That’s probably why Europeans in the middle age have explored new continents and invaded other civilizations to find this glittering material. Americans also had given much endeavor to mine that valuable jewel in the time of gold rush. Investigating these events, gold has immensely affected the world history; the Age of Exploration, invasions of Spaniards, and the development of California.
Zora Neale Hurston, author of the Gilded Six Bits, has a very unique writing style. The artistry in her story makes it a pleasant, easy read for any audience. The title suggests the story is based around money; but rather if one were to dig deeper the reality of the story is being told around the playfulness of money. Character disposition, an idealistic dialect, and the ability to work past an issue all work together to prove that Joe and Missie May’s lives are not strictly revolved around money.
Also, John McPhee stated, “We were well into the country rock of California gold- the rock that was there when, in various ways, the gold itself arrived.” This statement by John McPhee explains how gold impacted our world. Gold has an effect on capitalism. We as a society have a history of how we process gold into currency. In the past, Kings negotiate with gold and it was used as a currency. However, in today’s world, we don’t have many people buy with gold but with bills or coins. In the statement by John
Gold has been valued in our cultural history for as long as societies have been able to adopt this valuable metal’s unique properties. Gold is unique in its inherent marvellous glossy shine. Gold is particularly malleable, conducts electricity, doesn’t blemish and blends well with other metals. Because of these exclusive properties, gold creates its ways in our everyday life in many ways or form. Gold has always had remarkable significance, shown by most civilizations as a symbol of wealth and power. Gold has captivated most of cultures around the world and the passion for it brings to the extermination of some cultures and the growth in condition of others. This essay explores the use of gold over time and perception of the cultures that surround by gold.
Money, the media of exchange for products and services, provides things people need, like food, clothing, shelter, or medicine. People spend most of their life looking for it. My parent for example, works from sunrise to sunset to obtain it. The more money people have the more benefits they can get, because they will be able to get a bigger and better houses, clothes, or food. Less money means stress in bill payments, gas prices, and food prices. With money, people can fulfill their material need. However, money cannot buy everything such as happiness, friendship and love, health, and appetite.
Paper money is more complex. From 1900 through 1971 (with the exception of during World War I), the US dollar was backed by gold, meaning its value was legally defined by a certain weight of the metal. That ended in 1971, when Richard Nixon shocked the world by breaking the link to gold and allowing the dollar’s value to be determined by trading in the foreign exchange markets. The dollar is valuable not because it’s as good as gold, but because you can buy goods and services produced in the United States with it—and, crucially, it’s the only form the US government will accept for tax payments. Among the Federal Reserve’s many functions is allowing the issuance of just the right quantity of dollars—enough to keep the wheels of commerce well greased without slipping into a hyperinflationary crisis.
Gold, nothing can compare to this precious metal. A symbol of wealth and prosperity, it has been a value for explorers and adventurers and a lure for conquerors. Today it is vital to commerce and finance; popular in ornamentation, and increasing importance in technology.
In the beginning of the human kind, there was no money. The only way to get what you want is to trade what you have for it. This system is called bartering. Sometimes, you will find a person who is willing to exchange your goods. However, most of the time, it is really difficult to find the person who is willing to trade with you. Since, you desperately need to exchange, you will need to travel the whole day until you meet the right person. In this type of situation, it will take a lot of time to find the person who wants to trade with your goods. Economists defined this kind of issue as transaction costs. It is the time and effort people spend before they can exchange their goods. In barter economy, the transaction costs are incredibly high. Another major drawback of barter system is that people cannot measure the value of goods. This usually leads to conflicts since people have to make unequal exchanges. In order to reduce transaction costs and conflicts, people developed commodity money.
As the quotation above says, is money society¡¦s new god? If so, can other values such as freedom, love, achievement or even motivation also be bought? This is precisely the topic of the paper. All of these things can be pointed back to money and see how people treat it today. Besides discussing the real functions of money, this paper will also attempt to answer not just the questions above but also investigate whether money is the only thing that really motivates people today.
Today, couple of monetary forms are completely upheld by gold or silver. Subsequent to most world monetary standards are fiat cash, the cash supply could increment quickly for political reasons, bringing about inflation. The