Money

1 WHAT is “money”? Can you give a precise definition of the word “money” without help from a dictionary?

2 What is the difference between Money and Currency? Between Dollars and Legal Tender? Between Cash and Coin?

3 These reports will discuss each of these terms, but we begin by focusing on perhaps the most important term, Money.

4 ROMAN MYTHOLOGY AND MONEY

5 Various objects have been used AS money since man’s earliest existence, but the first form of the word “money” did not appear until about 500 B.C.

6 Roman mythology attributes Jupiter’s wife and sister, Juno — the queen of heaven and chief protector of women — with giving the Roman legions a warning on the battlefield (circa 500 B.C.).

7 Juno was given the epithet, moneta, a variation of the Latin monere, which means “a warning” because her sage and timely advice saved the Roman army from sure defeat.

8 An epithet is a tacked-on name which helps describe a person — such as Richard the Lion-Hearted, “the Lion-Hearted” is the epithet of this Richard’s name.

9 Then (circa 300 B.C.) a temple was constructed in Rome in honor of Juno.

10 Since Juno was considered to be the guardian of the Roman treasury, this temple was used as a place to manufacture silver coins, officially called denarii, — in the singular, denarius.

11 In light of Juno’s epithet moneta, some economists talk about “monetizing the public debt” but how can a debt be converted into coins?

12 People who are anxious to stop inflation sometimes call for a return to “honest money” but money, because it is inanimate, can be neither honest nor dishonest.

13 The phrase “interest-free money” is also irrational.

14 Money is a thing, and although a borrower of a thing may be charged for the use of that thing, the charge is not levied on the thing itself.

15 Interest is often charged for credit, but credit is not money.

16 WATCH OUT FOR THE WORD “AS”

17 Notice that we did not define money as something to be used AS a medium of exchange. Money IS a medium of exchange.

18 Also notice that wampum, stones, dead rats and wooden sticks have in the past been used AS money, but only when they were a medium of exchange; none of these things were, are, or ever can be money.

19 There are four forms or usages of the word “AS”: adverb, conjunction, relative pronoun, and preposition.

20 Since the specific usage of the word “AS” cannot always be accurately determined from an examination of the context in which it is used, if you see the word “AS” in a legal or financial document, determine for sure which form is being used before you sign or otherwise act upon that document.

21 The adverbial form of the word “AS” discussed in a following report is illustrated in the following analogy.

22 If I see a small nail which has worked its way out of my kitchen floor, I’d be expected to use a hammer to drive the nail back into place. But if I didn’t have a hammer, I might use a screwdriver instead.

23 If I pound the nail down with my screwdriver I am using it AS (in the manner of) a hammer, but common sense tells us that my screwdriver has not turned into or become a hammer.

24 Criminals who specialize in theft by fraud take advantage of the multiple meanings of words.

25 These criminals know there is a world of difference between something which can be used AS money, and real money itself.

26 Remember this analogy when you hear anyone — especially politicians, bankers, lawyers, judges, and IRS employees — talk about our using something else AS money.

27 Today, politicians talk about how much money is involved in a piece of legislation, or business executives tell us how much money their firm made last year, or newscasters tell us how much money somebody won in a contest.

28 However, our etymological review tells us that all of their reports are inaccurate.

29 They are inaccurate because THERE IS NO MONEY in general circulation in the world today.

IT'S A FACT.