Post by 4aapl on Mar 9, 2022 19:39:01 GMT -8
This was by Jacob Goldstein, from NPR. The library description is:
"What is money anyway, and where and why did it originate? According to Jacob Goldstein, this made-up thing has evolved over centuries and takes different forms based on technological advances, the needs of society, and often the crazy ideas of outliers on the fringes. Told through witty, historical anecdotes, Goldstein demystifies this ever-evolving tool from the invention of the first coins in Mesopotamia, to how China invented paper money centuries before it appeared in the west, how at one point in Sweden men carried giant "coins" on their backs to pay for goods, to the gold standard, pound sterling, origins of the Euro, mutual funds, bitcoin and a cashless society. Money presents entertaining tales of fascinating characters who fundamentally changed our monetary systems such as Genghis Khan, John Law, a convicted murderer and professional gambler, the Luddites, and the anarchist cyberpunks who created bitcoin. Through these major movements we see the rise and fall of various financial institutions: central banks, the stock market, the Federal Reserve, and the shadow institutions like Lehman Brothers that helped create the financial crisis of 2008. Lively and accessible and full of interesting tidbits (the word "banker" comes from the Venetian "bench sitters"-or "banchieri"-of the 1600s who guarded the gold) Goldstein looks at the evolution of money (whose definition appears to be, if we all agree it's money, then it is money) and confronts its true purpose and who it is supposed to be for"--
I thought it was very interesting. There was a lot of good stuff here, but the most important to investing was of the multiple times where money, or it's closely related things, failed or nearly failed, causing bank runs or the equivalent. Panic!
This has happened many times, including the Mississippi Bubble, gold runs, and bank runs. The most recent time were runs on the money market funds in 2008 at the start of the financial collapse.
Like the idea of the Lender of Last Resort, these were mitigated when someone big, normally the government, came in and said that they would cover things. Often just saying they would cover things was enough to halt the panic. Similar to the classic movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 (Available on Amazon Prime).
Watch out for "similar to money, but not backed by the same things as money". And yes, it mentions Crypto, though the problem would be in a place like Chile moving to it, and then having a hacker, an exchange outage, or internet blip, that would cause a huge change in availability or value of the "currency", and potentially a bank run.
"What is money anyway, and where and why did it originate? According to Jacob Goldstein, this made-up thing has evolved over centuries and takes different forms based on technological advances, the needs of society, and often the crazy ideas of outliers on the fringes. Told through witty, historical anecdotes, Goldstein demystifies this ever-evolving tool from the invention of the first coins in Mesopotamia, to how China invented paper money centuries before it appeared in the west, how at one point in Sweden men carried giant "coins" on their backs to pay for goods, to the gold standard, pound sterling, origins of the Euro, mutual funds, bitcoin and a cashless society. Money presents entertaining tales of fascinating characters who fundamentally changed our monetary systems such as Genghis Khan, John Law, a convicted murderer and professional gambler, the Luddites, and the anarchist cyberpunks who created bitcoin. Through these major movements we see the rise and fall of various financial institutions: central banks, the stock market, the Federal Reserve, and the shadow institutions like Lehman Brothers that helped create the financial crisis of 2008. Lively and accessible and full of interesting tidbits (the word "banker" comes from the Venetian "bench sitters"-or "banchieri"-of the 1600s who guarded the gold) Goldstein looks at the evolution of money (whose definition appears to be, if we all agree it's money, then it is money) and confronts its true purpose and who it is supposed to be for"--
I thought it was very interesting. There was a lot of good stuff here, but the most important to investing was of the multiple times where money, or it's closely related things, failed or nearly failed, causing bank runs or the equivalent. Panic!
This has happened many times, including the Mississippi Bubble, gold runs, and bank runs. The most recent time were runs on the money market funds in 2008 at the start of the financial collapse.
Like the idea of the Lender of Last Resort, these were mitigated when someone big, normally the government, came in and said that they would cover things. Often just saying they would cover things was enough to halt the panic. Similar to the classic movie, "It's a Wonderful Life" www.imdb.com/title/tt0038650/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 (Available on Amazon Prime).
Watch out for "similar to money, but not backed by the same things as money". And yes, it mentions Crypto, though the problem would be in a place like Chile moving to it, and then having a hacker, an exchange outage, or internet blip, that would cause a huge change in availability or value of the "currency", and potentially a bank run.