So What Is Money... Really
There is an aphorism that states "it's not getting the right answer but asking the right question" that is crucial. Readers of this site are surely aware of blurbs like 'real money', ' honest money ', 'Fiat' money, printed money, borrowed money... ad infinitum. Indeed, Aristotle named the desirable qualities of money; Money must be durable Money must be portable Money must be divisible Money must have intrinsic value What question were Aristotle's qualities the answer to? The question 'what makes good vs not so good money'. This question is fundamentally different from 'what is money'. If we ask what money is better/not so good, we assume that we already know what money is, and what money is not... a big assumption. During recorded history, many things played the role of 'money' (mainly store of value and medium of exchange); cattle (pecus ... Roman origin of pecuniary) salt (origin of salary) cowry shells, cacao beans,...