“The most difficult subjects can be explained to

the most slow-witted man if he has not formed

any idea of them already; but the simplest thing

cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man

if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already,

without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before

him.”

Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)

“Labour was the first price, the original

purchase - money that was paid for all things.

It

was not by gold or by silver, but by labour,

that

all wealth of the world was originally

purchased.”

Adam Smith (1723-1790)

What is money?

AmberBreadsCowriesDrumsEggsFeathersGongsHoesIvoryJadeKettles

LeatherMatsNailsOxenPigsQuartzRiceSaltThimblesUmiaksYarnsZappozats

Reference:

Davies, Glyn (1994), A History of Money from Ancient times to the present day, University of Wales Press, Cardiff, p. 240

What is money?

Money as a “thing”..

Money is what money does

Money as a social phenomena

“O dinheiro é um bem de aceitação universal e circulação obritória quedesempenha funções de meio de pagamento, dotado de liquidez imediatauniversalmente aceite, por via legal ou institucional, de unidade de conta ede reserve de valor. Ou, como refere a propósito uma publicação do BancoCentral Europeu, “o dinheiro é o que o dinheiro faz”.[…]

O dinheiro é pois definido por aquilo que faz, e não por aquilo queintrinsicamente possa ser. Ou seja, na sua essência, o dinheiro é aquilo queos agentes económicos podem fazer com ele.”

Mário Coutinho dos Santos in O Dinheiro (pág. 55)

Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a particular country or socio-economic context, or is easily converted to such a form.

The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, sometimes, a standard of deferred payment. Any item or verifiable record that fulfils these functions can be considered as money.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money

Money as a medium of exchange Money as a standard of value Money as a unit of account Money as store of value Money as a standard of deferred payment

Greco, Thomas (2013), money, understanding and creating alternatives to legal tender, Chelsea Green Publishing CO

“..the god of all commodities.”

Karl Marx

“Money is not a commodity because it has no necessary physical properties. But because of its utility as a measure of value and by artificially constraining access to it, we are easily led to perceive it as a scarce thing or commodity.

Money is not a store of value because it cannot “store” the physical properties that give goods and services their value. But because of its function of annotating value, it can be used in agreements and obligations that serve to measure goods and services to be redeemed in the future.

Money is not a physical “medium” of exchange because it has no inherent physical functions. But because it is a record of value it can facilitate the realisation of certain transactions.”

Gauvin, Marc (2012), The Money PSYOP

Money as a medium of exchange Money as a standard of value Money as a unit of account Money as store of value Money as a standard of deferred payment

Greco, Thomas (2013), money, understanding and creating alternatives to legal tender, Chelsea Green Publishing CO

Money can only record a measure of value but it can never be the value it records.

Money is an agreement, within a community, to use something as a means of payment.

Bernard LietaerThe Future of Money

Money is an information system we use to deploy human effort.

Michel Linton

Money is an agreement, not always voluntary, within a socio-economic defined context, regarding the measure and transfer of value.

Filipe Moreira Alves

Money as a thing..

•Classic economic vision

Money is what money does

•Neoclassic economic vision

Money as a social phenomena

•Heterodox economic vision

Money VS currency?

Dinheiro VS Moeda?

What is currency?

Greek drachma of Aegina. c.700 BCE.

Money VS Currency?Money Currency

All functions (namely store of value)

Exchange function

All currencies (past and present) and all units of account and stores of value

Money in current circulation (etymology)

Legal tender All types

A currency is a system of money, in any form, when in actual circulation as a mean

of payments.

Currencies can take the form of:

Complementary currencies Local currencies

Alternative currencies Official currencies (legal tender)

Dinheiro VS Moeda

Porta A:

Dinheiro e moedasão conceitossimilares que

podem serusados

“indistintamentee com o mesmo

significado”

Porta B:

São conceitosdiferentes:

Dinheiro equivale ao Money e

Moeda a Currency

(versão Google Translate)

Porta C:

São conceitosdiferentes:

Moeda equivale a Money e Dinheiro

a um tipoparticular de

currency (legal tender).

People Powered Money

State/Gov. Powered Money

Privately Powered money

Who issues and controls the money supply?

Commodity money

Credit (Fiat) money

Acknowledge money

What backs money?

Cash (notes and coins)

Central bank reserves

Commercial money

Positive Money UK vision

“GOOD MONEY MUST HAVE SEVEN CHARACTERISTICS”

(1) It must be durable, which is why we don’t use wheat or corn or rice.(2) It must be divisible, which is why we don’t use art work.(3) It must be convenient, which is why we don’t use lead or copper.(4) It must be consistent, which is why we don’t use real estate.(5) It must possess value in itself, which is why we don’t use paper.(6) It must be limited in the quantity that is available (scarce), which is why we don’t use aluminum or iron.(7) It should have a long history of acceptance, which is why we don’t use molybdenum or rhodium.

“Only GOLD and SILVER fit all seven characteristics.”https://www.milesfranklin.com/the-seven-characteristics-of-money/

The new characteristics of “good/positive money”:

(1) Democratically designed and managed (voluntary acceptance)(2) Grounded and connected with the real economy and a fair sense of value(3) It must be convenient(4) It must be stable and speculation-proof(5) Sufficient, neither scarce nor abundant(6) Adequate/fit for its functions(7) Appropriate scale

Topic for debate. Comment on the following sentences:

“Evil is the root of all money”, Nobuhiro Kiyotaki and John Moore

“..the love for money is the root of all evil.”, New Testament, First Epistle of St. Paul to Thimoteo, Vers. 1 6:10

“..the lack of money is the root of all evil.”, Mark Twain