“When it is a question of money, everybody is of the same religion” ~ Voltaire
PICTURES OF MONEY
Money makes the world go round, or so they say. In the modern world, money can buy almost anything – food, shelter, sex – and in some instances even life itself. Rightly or wrongly, we even tend to gauge a person’s success as a human being in terms of the amount of money he or she can command. But where did it all begin – and why?
“Money is a terrible master but an excellent servant” ~ P.T.Barnum
We are often told that money, like a stone axe, is just a tool, designed to fulfill a useful function and thereby make life easier for its creator. But for what purpose did our remote ancestors create such an incredibly powerful tool? And why did mankind allocate so much power to something so intangible and insubstantial? You can’t eat it, drink it or breathe it, but to most of us, money seems as essential as life itself. These questions will be examined at length in the following pages. Another view is that money is no tool designed to serve mankind, but simply a temptation sent by the devil to enslave us, obsess our waking thoughts and then control virtually every aspect of our lives. They may just be right!
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Money has very ancient roots and has taken many diverse forms over the years – cowrie shells were hoarded and traded for goods in Polynesia, standardized bronze axe heads were a store of wealth in Ancient Britain and in the forests of pre-colonial Africa a copper cross could be exchanged for two or three slaves. Today, in the bustling trading halls of Manhattan, digital fortunes are made and lost in the flash of an electronic pulse. In the streets of this same vibrant city, a piece of plastic can put you behind the wheel of your very own dream automobile. With a good credit rating, the city will give you whatever you want. It is very easy to forget that the entire island was originally purchased for just a handful of beads.
The Story of Money is as complex as that of mankind itself and nearly as ancient. The evolution of money has never been a straight road, but has led mankind through many kinks, bumps and false turns to get us to the present day. It must be admitted that the steadily increasing supply of money has played its part in the advance of civilization, by funding economic growth and trade and has thus brought much prosperity and a rise of living standards on a world wide scale. However the possession of wealth or the lack of it has also caused untold misery and ruined many lives. Individuals and even nations, have both killed for money and died for it.
Throughout the ages, greed and the desire for wealth have caused wars, funded revolutions, induced irresponsible financial manipulation and thrown the world into chaos on several occasions, when the value of money has suddenly crashed bringing devastating consequences. Recurring financial crises have beggared the rich, destroyed jobs, forced whole peoples off the land and starved out the poor. History has a way of repeating itself, so we can be very sure that there will be even more surprises and pitfalls lying in wait for us, in the not too distant future. We have no option, but to play out our own small parts in this never-ending drama – but if we are not to find ourselves among the victims of the future, we can learn from the past and plan an appropriate defensive strategy. The History of Money is therefore indeed a story well worth knowing.
INDEX FOR THE HISTORY OF MONEY
(Ctr Click on the links below to open the relevant chapters)
The Origin of Money
This chapter explains how a fairly sophisticated international trading system arose from simple exchange of goods by barter and how the arrival of a ‘silver standard’ of valuations in an ancient cashless society was the first move towards creating true money.
Coins
The invention of coinage solved one problem, but created a multitude of others. Ancient coins reveal much of political and economic history, but trade was not the real reason for creating coinage. If this is so, then what was the true purpose of creating coins?
Fiat Money
Dropping the gold standard in the 1970′s set the scene for rapid growth of many modern world economies, releasing additional funds for infrastructure development and giving a huge boost to world trade. But were the alchemists of the Fed and other Central Banks truly able to create something out of nothing – or is there still a massive reckoning waiting to be paid back in the not to distant future?
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