I wonder why...

[Snarl 12/8]

The illusion that they have some value, has some value. That is all.

[Gregg Juke]

Whatever did happen to Doug Henning, anyway?

GJ

PS-- Oh, dad gum, he died like 13 years ago already. Probably would have only been accepting PayPal for tickets to his shows by now anyway... ba-da-BING!

[fossiltooth]

The illusion that they have some value, has some value. That is all.

Absolutely true of any currency. But it's a pretty damn powerful illusion. If ya live life as if that illusion were a reality, you'd do pretty well for yourself. At least where the physical necessities of living are concerned: Food, rent, heat, water, power, health care, that kind of thing.

I might even go a step further: Currency has value, because we assign it value. It may lack intrinsic value, but intrinsic value is not the point of currency. In fact, any currency that has significant intrinsic value would be an obstacle to meeting the needs of a civilization of 8 billion people! Think about it: If a thing has real intrinsic value, isn't it far better off being put to actual use, rather than filling bank accounts and being traded back and forth over dental appointments and car repairs?

The whole point of modern currency is that it has promissory value rather than intrinsic value, and that it can be traded in for other things or services that do have have intrinsic value. If the currency had significant intrinsic value on its own, that would be bad. Just imagine the waste of resources!

All that currency says is "I owe you something. Things or labor of your choosing. It can even be things or labor that I can not directly provide. Really -- Whatever you want." It's a kind of brilliantly simple and efficient system. No wonder every civilization that made it out of the trees uses the stuff.

[Snarl 12/8]

I think there are a lot of flaws in what you're saying, but this is probably even thornier than analog v. digital and certainly more off-topic.

[fossiltooth]

We can definitely agree on that last bit!

Ultimately, if anyone wants to understand the reasons why currency systems are used worldwide and compare that with the pros and cons of the barter system, they can just open a microeconomics textbook. Anyone who wants to understand the reasons why currency is no longer tied directly to some arbitrary object (like say, gold) can just open a macroeconomics textbook. A couple of us audio nerds mouthing off on a messageboard probably couldn't add a lot to that conversation that isn't already known.

I mean, you can make a pro-gold argument by stating that the gold standard leads to lower long-term inflation. That's true. And it's great for rich people. But that's about all it's got going for it. You'd also have to recognize that the gold standard leads to more erratic short-term price fluctuations as well as much higher levels of unemployment. Those are two things modern societies just won't really stand for. And that's why we have a monetary system that isn't tied to... you know... shiny objects. (Even Milton Friedman of all people pointed out that the cost of maintaining a gold standard for the United States back in 1960 would be more than 2.5 percent of GDP. Today, it would be over a half a trillion dollars, just to keep the standard up and running. Those are the "wasted resources" we were talking about.)

Anyway, I'd definitely agree that there's no need for us to clutter up the TOMB by debating the value of currency or the fundamental structure of the global economy. Especially when neither of us are real experts there. It would kind of be like debating gravity. I mean, a person with a truly deep understanding of theoretical physics can make a pretty compelling case as to why the current theory of gravity is incomplete. But I'm gonna keep on acting like gravity works. 'Cause for all of our intents and purposes, it kinda does.

I mean, I'm not designing an FTL drive over here. (But are you? Because that would be frigging awesome!!!) For me in my own personal life, Newtonian laws of motion seem to apply. And so does currency. YMMV.

[vvv]

I always feel like:

Too much gravity, not enuff currency.

[fossiltooth]

I always feel like:

Too much gravity, not enuff currency.

[cgarges]

Whatever did happen to Doug Henning, anyway?

GJ

PS-- Oh, dad gum, he died like 13 years ago already. Probably would have only been accepting PayPal for tickets to his shows by now anyway... ba-da-BING!

I've been wondering about that dude for years. I had no idea he died.

CG

[Gregg Juke]

Unless it was an Illusion...

GJ