Money ~ An Introduction

by Matthew Roddan

Money is a verifiable record or item that is usually accepted services, goods or debt repayment in a specific country or socio-economic setting and can be converted into such form easily. The main purposes of money are as an accounting unit, exchange medium, store of value, or even as a mode of deferred payment. In other words, a tangible record or item that can meet these requirements is money.

Currency or money supply of any country is usually coins and banknotes and varies with the definition deployed, includes various types of bank money (account balance in savings, checking or other accounts) and is typically a compilation of digital records and is a major share of money worldwide. Though there’s no clear origin details for the word “money” it is assumed to have evolved from the Roman word “Juno” that stands for “unit or “Moneta” a Latin word that means “instruct”, “warn” or “remind” or Greek word “moneres” that means “unique” or “alone”.

According to William Stanley Jevons, money can be defined in terms of purpose, as a measure of value, as a medium of exchange, store of value or a standard of value in Money and the Mechanism of Exchange. This definition was widely used in Economics and financial experts often stick with this definition. Since “store of value” function contradicts with “medium of exchange” function, “financial capital” a broader term is used in financial sectors.

Financial capital is very important for any business or investment, says Matthew Roddan of Project Ninety Nine. Now, monetary systems rely on fiat money, where the governments decide the value of currency notes or coins. Earlier, money was commodity money like silver and gold coins. It became difficult to transport and fiat currencies became popular. There were other types of money including bank notes, though fiat currency remains sought after. With everything going digital, why should be money be left out? Digital currencies are the current trend where cryptocurrencies rule the roost. Bitcoin is one example of cryptocurrency and their future though looks ambiguous, digital coins would trump any day, owing to digitization in every walk of life.

by Matthew Roddan