Root of All Evil

The Cobden Center has been putting out some very good stuff on the economy and economics. they are addressing what prescriptions might be best in these trying economic times. One of their best writers is Sean Cirrigan, who says, in passing,

This age old error of confusing the medium of exchange with the object of exchange is one we continue to commit."

Perzactly! Money is a medium of exchange. It emerges from among commodities. It solves the problem of double coincidence necessary for trade. If I go to market with eggs looking for milk, there is a good chance that I'll be successful in an exchange, since there are likely to be milkmen looking for eggs, and we both have well known items that are easily divisible. The coincidence that I am looking for eggs and I find them is rather sure. The double coincidence that the egg man is looking for milk is rather sure.

But what happens when I go to market with an air filter looking for a trailer hitch. Now the problem of double coincidence rear its ugly head. I amy find someone wanting an air filter, but unlikely to find a trailer hitch. And even if I did, the items are not easily divisible to make a trade. The subjective valuation is hard to assess as well. Out of trade emerged a commodity item that served as a medium of exchange: usually gold, often silver, and other base metals in history.

Money is so flexible than man began to trade to acquire money over needs. All major religions warn on money for money's, for example, Love of Money is the Root of All Evil. (1 Tim 6:10).

When people are pursuing money for money's sake, they are missing out on using the money for lifestyle sake. Buckminster Fuller was notorious for trying to live as if he would have no possessions. Problem was, as a world-famous architect, he was making tremendous amounts of money. So he kept spending it on his next project, his next big idea.

Where things get really ugly is when people lend money out to make money on money. Usury is the crime the religions condemn. Here the leverage allows the few to concentrate money, which in turn provides for all the evils we see around us: poverty, war, hunger, etc. If in fact these evils can be traced to the practice, then would we abjure the practice?

Bookmark this post --- Email this post