Money: What is it?

fluxo

I'm at a bit of a low ebb today, so sorry if this is below par.

Ok, so we often talk about what to do with money, whether it should flow here or there, but there is very little discussion about what money is. It might surprise you to say there is not universal agreement about that. But here are some documents expressing the Bank of England's view on the this and they are a pretty interesting read.

This is introductory ("Money in the modern economy: an introduction"):

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/quarterlybulletin/2014/qb14q1prereleasemoneyintro.pdf

This is a little more advanced ("Money creation in the modern economy"):

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/quarterlybulletin/2014/qb14q1prereleasemoneycreation.pdf

Snippet:

"In the modern economy, most money takes the form of bank deposits. But how those bank deposits are created is often misunderstood: the principal way is through commercial banks making loans. Whenever a bank makes a loan, it simultaneously creates a matching deposit in the borrower’s bank account, thereby creating new money."

Note: not depositing or transferring existing money, but instead creating it out of nothing.

raduv1

Money is what money does , for some that have the luxury to invest it's a bonus that brexit took away from earning potential  , for most that luxury is just paying the bills week in week out . You and I live in the same country but a world apart of prosperity it seems . You worry about yourself and the effects in your world and care not about the country you live in. If money is your ultimate goal then carry on .

fluxo

If that "you" is a reference to me, then I've no idea where you get those strange ideas from.

You say we are a world apart in terms of prosperity. Are you stating that I am more or less prosperous than you? I can sort of guess, but I'd rather not sort of guess.

In any case, I'm not sure how your post relates to the original post. It seems a bit off-beam to me.

raduv1

Yup sorry I misread the post as I often don't talk or think about what to do with money as it goes on bills and is gone . My mistake .

fluxo

NP

By the way, if you've ever wondered what "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of five pounds" means, then one of the articles above has the answer.

                                                                                                                                                 

It used to be five pounds (weight) of gold, but that's no longer true. So it is a promise to pay you five pounds of something and the question is what  that something is. If you don't know the answer to that question, it might be fun to spend a few minutes thinking about it.

raduv1

Hey as someone who used to take home a pay packet I know the value of real money , you OP will be lost on the majority that have only ever witnessed the digital equivalent. It does somewhat diminish actually owning the equivalent.

fluxo

I'm old enough to remember the threepenny bit

raduv1

Not going to get into a Monty Python pissing  contest

RiceRocket

It's the root of all evil

raduv1

It's the root of most government relying on the financial district for a nations economic stability and growth.