Track 10

Unit 10

Economics

The evolution of money

Pages 96 and 97

Listen for main ideas and listen for details

Money, it’s one of the greatest creations of human history and has played a positive role in the development of modern civilization. However, we haven’t always used money. If we look back say, more than 3000 years ago, which is when coins first appeared, we would find that most people conducting business, using a system of direct exchange called barter. For instance, I might exchange my five chickens for your three sheep, that’s barter.

Today, I’ll be talking about some advantages of money over barter, how money is undergone change over time and the benefits of money. Okay, in early societies, land and agriculture provided the main forms of wealth and power. How? Because only landowners could grow large amounts of food and raise large amounts of animals, such as cattle and sheep. Although people could carry out limited business transactions by bartering animals and vegetables, the barter system was doomed to fail. Why? Well, you’ll see through the four enormous advantages of money I’m about to explain.

The first advantage is that financial transactions of any size can take place. An advantage that increased tremendously when paper money was introduced. For example, it’s simple for a company to make a transaction involving millions or billions of dollars when using money.

Second, transactions involving money can be done fast. People who have money can get it and transfer it to another person rapidly. This means that business can be conducted quickly. And now of course with electronic transactions, money can be moved over any distance in a flash.

Third, money allows people to do business with anyone, across cultural or geographic boundaries. And this greatly expands business opportunities. Money truly enjoys universal acceptance.

The fourth advantage is that the value of money is precise and consistent. Precise means that the value of money can be determined in exact ways, $5.49 or $5.51. Money is also consistent because the value of one dollar is one dollar. It isn’t subjective. And even when the value of a currency fluctuates, it fluctuates for everyone.

Okay, let me say a few words about the evolution of money. Originally, money was a physical object found in nature, cattle and grains, for example. It then evolved to become a manufactured physical object such as gold and silver coins. Next, money became something more abstract, something that is symbolic of physical objects, such as gold and silver.

At this stage of its evolution, money became pieces of paper, such as paper money and stock certificates. While gold and silver coins have real value, paper doesn’t because it’s completely separated from what it once represented gold. This was an enormous evolutionary leap because money moved from being a concrete physical object to being a symbolic abstract idea. And that this idea worked only because people had a great deal of trust and faith in the principal.

Okay, now what about the benefits that have resulted from the invention of money? I’ll cover three. The invention has benefited commerce, human initiative and individual freedom. Traditionally, wealth was handed down from parent to child in the form of land. And because few people were landowners, few people had any hope of advancing a society or of becoming even moderately wealthy.

However as agriculture became increasingly efficient, more and more people abandon farm work. These people began to live in cities and to make their livings by offering nonagricultural products and services. Money was the facilitator of this commerce because as we just saw, money allows businesspeople to sell goods to anyone, right?

Second point, the rise of commerce increased individual initiative because wealth was no longer necessarily tied to heredity. Instead brains and hard work became important. The result, growing middle class and upper classes of relatively wealthy people.

And thirdly, people working in nonagricultural businesses gained the freedom to choose their own futures. For example, education became accessible to many more people. As a result, they were better able to function independently and successfully. This further accelerated the growth of both new businesses and money. Can you see that?

All right, to sum up, money is one of the greatest and most productive tools ever created by human beings. It’s a tool that strongly related to human and social development, to creativity and frankly, to turning dreams into reality. But, the true source of all of these benefits is not money itself because money is just an abstraction. Humans are the ones who give meaning to money and through this very human use of trust and faith, millions of people have been able to live better, more comfortable and more fulfilling lives.