Monday With regard to the quantification of a good’s value, with what is it measured? How is the subjective value of a good expressed? Well, with money of course; one of the jobs of money in the marketplace is to measure value. For most of the 20th century and at the beginning of the 21st century, the marketplace has used fiat debt notes, otherwise known … [Read more...]
Time Preference
Wednesday “Time-preference is simply the desire to own goods at an earlier date rather than later.” (here) I come across this regularly, and it is important to understand that this is just an observation that is sometimes true, but, equally as often, is not. Imagine receiving a crane delivery of a roof for a house before the walls are constructed. What would … [Read more...]
What is Money?
Wednesday I studied economics for three years (2007 -2010). What intrigued me most was that in a room full of students, some of them very bright, none of them could plausibly define money, not even my Professor. Economics is a coarse instrument without the lubricant of money. How could a whole subject evolve around a core concept that everyone and his dog … [Read more...]
Defining Money Correctly
Friday Here is an article purporting to explain what money is. It proceeds to define money by describing one of the actions that it does. Money can be used for many different things – exchanging for goods, investing, gambling, tipping, hoarding etc. But defining something by what it does can be misleading, because it reverses cause and effect. Something is what it is … [Read more...]