Minds and Money

Money is one of the things we are taught from a young age to value, along with possessions as well. Kids trade snacks at lunchtime, the same way trading goods was common before any currency was established, this was all to satisfy humans quid pro quo mentality. Money in our society is seen as a key, a key to gain almost whatever you want materialistically. We have been plagued by the question as a society wondering if money really buys happiness? Money and its value might be a great resolution, but it is also a great cause of many of the problems people face everyday. But how does paper in a notebook hold such less value than the paper we use for dollar bills? Money and currency of any kind is only considered to uphold any worth because of how a civilization holds values and depends on a specific currency to operate. 

Riches are most commonly known to be held by possession. The more money you have in a bank account, or in your wallet, the more rich you are. The online innovation and application of money now makes it so a lot of the money we have is not even real technically, it is all numbers being transported via computer. According to the This american life Broadcast  “The invention of money” People used to trade in gold in banks, and use paper money for easier transportation instead. This meant that the paper money actually held no individualistic value, it was the value that came from the gold you possessed that gave this paper trading value.The knowledge that there was gold being held in the bank in return for the money is what upheld the importance of paper which was seen as “fake money”. We see these numbers on a computer in the same way with digital money, where we don’t physically see the item of value, but we see the numbers on the banking app to indicate how much money you possess, transferring the value you hold towards your money over onto the number on your screen. 

Yap held massive stone sculptures for money also known as Fei, they were large, and the weight of some cars. Financial innovation was made meaning that you don’t need to possess a stone to own it, ownership is traded verbally, and everyone then knows it holds a new owner. This shows value is upheld further by what a society’s mentality collectively believes it to be. You do not need to physically possess something on this island for it to be under your possession. The value of these stones would hold no value in America, but on the island of Yap, they are used solely for large purchases, and the payment is expressing the ownership of the stone is now someone else’s. In the NPR broadcast “The island of stone money”, they discussed how a stone was moved into the ocean by storm, and the islanders agreed it is still considered valuable, and still traded ownership of who possessed the stone, or fei in the ocean. This item was not even able to be seen, but was still deemed to hold value due to an agreement amongst the people. 

Brazil had been faced with a large financial crisis where inflation increased by 80 percent, giving their money less and less value. The rate of inflation meant that as they made money, it would lose over half its value in a year around the 1980s. In the broadcast “The lie that saved Brazil ” Chana Joffe Walt discusses how they began to save Brazil’s rapidly declining economy. The idea was brought by 4 economists, to begin with stopping printing money, they decided to tap into people’s psychology. They implemented a fake currency, which was virtual, known as a URV. Prices were listed in URV’s which were stable, and were in words, used the same way we used paper money to use in conversion instead of gold. This began to sway public faith in the currencies. Brazil managed to trick their citizens into stabilizing an economy by determining stable pricing through fake money. This along with the balancing of budgeting managed to help the country have a stable new currency by 1994. 

In the BBC article, “Argentina inflation soars past 100% mark” Laura Gozzi discussed how Argentina has seen over 100% inflation, and the tactics being used to solve this problem. The solution to this is different from the Brazillians solution where the government keeps granting billions in bailout money. Is this money even real? People will still be swayed in the same way because this bailout is only paying off inflation by the numbers, not aiming towards the consumers who hold the value of this money. If this negative faith as well as protests stay instilled, the money will still not be seen as a progressive solution. In an article by The Guardian “Argentina’s inflation rate soars past 100%, its worst in over 30 years” You begin to gain a look at the disdain the economic impacts left over certain individuals. “I am tired, tired, just tired of all this, of the politicians who fight while the people die of hunger,” she told Reuters. “This can’t go on any more.”” The faith not only in the economy is being swayed, but the faith in the government as well, proving how the psychology of a society can cause further impacts beyond what is seen as just a financial crisis. 

Money and currency of any kind is only considered to uphold any worth because of how a civilization holds values and depends on a specific currency to operate. The idea of value and numbers is simply a product of what we make it. Everyone has something like a Fei, which to others holds no value but is to us individually. Also like a kid trading lunches, they see different values. If a society collectively determines the value of something the only way to manage an economy is through the psychology of the ones who determine it, which is the civilization where a currency lies. 

References

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” The Island of Stone Money(1991)

Gozzi, Laura. “Argentina Inflation Soars Past 100% Mark.” BBC News, BBC, 15 Mar. 2023 

Glass, Ira, Chana Joffe-Walt, Alex Blumberg, and Dave Kestenbaum. “423: The Invention of Money.” This American Life. Prod. Planet Money. 7 Jan. 2011. This American Life. 

Joffe-Walt, Chana. “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR. NPR, 4 Oct. 2010. 

The Guardian “Argentina’s Inflation Rate Soars Past 100%, Its Worst in over 30 Years.”, Guardian News and Media, 15 Mar. 2023,