Chapter 2 Flashcards
In the Philippines, the __________ that controls the country’s economy is the
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas
Money acts as a means by which people can store their wealth for future use. It must not, therefore, be perishable, and it helps if it is of a practical size that can be stored and transported easily.
Store of Value
Most money originally has an intrinsic value, such as that of the precious metal that was used to make the coin. This in itself acted as some guarantee the coin would be accepted.
Item of worth
It must be possible to exchange money freely and widely for goods, and its value should be as stable as possible. It helps if that value is easily divisible and if there are sufficient denominations so change can be given.
Means of exchange
Money can be used to record wealth possessed, traded or spent- personally and nationally. It helps if only one recognized authority issues money. If anybody could issue it, then trust in its value would disappear.
Unit of account
In early forms of trading, specific items were exchanged for others agreed by the negotiating parties to be of similar value.
Barter (10,000 - 3000 BCE)
the direct exchange of goods - formed the basis of trade for thousands of years. Adam Smith, 18th-century author of The Wealth of Nations, was one of the first to identify it as a precursor to money.
Barter
Essentially, barter involves the exchange of an item (such as a cow) for one or more of a perceived equal “value” (for example a load of wheat). For the most part of the two parties bring the goods with them and hand them over at the time of a transaction. Sometimes, one of the parties will accept an “I owe you,” or IOU, or even a token, that it is agreed can be exchanged for the same goods or something else at a later date.
Barter in practice
Advantages of Barter
Trading relationship – Fosters strong links between partners. Physical goods are exchanged – Barter does not rely on trust that
Money will retain its value.
Disadvantages of Barter
Market needed – Both parties must want what the other offers. Hard to establish a set value on items – Two goats may have a certain value to one party one day, but less a week later.
Goods may not be easily divisible – For example, a living animal cannot be divided.
Large-scale transactions can be difficult. – Transporting one goat is easy, moving 1,000 is not.
Pictures of items were used to record trade exchanges, becoming more complex as values were established and documented.
Evidence of trade records (7000 BCE)
Defined weights of precious metals used by some merchants were later formalized as coins that were usually issued by states.
Coinage (600BCE-1100CE)
States began to use bank notes, issuing paper IOUS that were traded as currency, and could be exchanged for coins at any time.
Bank notes (1100-2000)
Money can now exist “virtually,” on computers, and large transactions can take place without any physical cash changing hands.
Digital money (2000 onward)
Early trade involved directly exchanged items – often perishable ones such as a
COW.
Barter (5,000 BCE)
Scribes recorded transactions on clay tablets, which could also act as receipts.
Sumerian cuneiform tablets (4,000 BCE)
Used as currency across India and the South Pacific, they appeared in many colors and sizes.
Cowrie shells (1,000BCE)
a mixture of gold and silver was formed into disks, or coins, stamped with inscriptions.
Lydian gold coins (600BCE)
Athenian drachma (600 BCE)
used silver from Laurion to mint a currency used right across the Greek world.
Often made of bronze or copper, early Chinese coins had holes punched in their center.
Han dynasty coin (200BCE)
Bearing the head of the emperor, these coins circulated throughout the Roman Empire.
Roman coin (27BCE).
Early Byzantine coins were pure gold; later ones also contained metals such as copper.
Byzantine coin (700CE)
This 10th century silver penny has an inscription stating that Offa is King (“rex”)
Of Mercia.
Anglo-Saxon coin (900CE)
Many silver coins from the Islamic empire were carried to Scandinavia by
Vikings.
Arabic dirham (900CE)
The Spanish discovered silver in Potosi, Bolivia, and caused a century of inflation by shipping 350 tons of the metal back to Europe annually.
Potosi inflation (1540-1640)
England’s Henry VIII debased the silver penny, making it three-quarters copper. Inflation increased as trust dropped.
The great debasement (1542-1551)