For many people, money seems to be one of the most important things in the world. Making money makes money makes politics. What money is actually, will always like to forget.
Since people who drive trades and their company has a higher division of labor, you need swimming means that are universally accepted. There was a lot of tried over time: weapons, art counterparts, shells, blacks, silver, gold and finish paper money. A money-less society is now impossible today, no worker has been accepted a payment in butter, chaise, automotive gifts or gasin channels. For the money function as a swimming means, however, it is irrelevant what kind of money is used. In principle, it does not matter if he gets gold munches, paper temples or electronic clearing units for his work — is important that this exchange is universal in fact and is accepted by anyone.
A universal exchange
In order to make money on a universal exchange, states give a certain intervals the function of a legally obligatory cash. However, money is a pure computing unit, which reproduces a claim. The money itself is basically worthless, you can see from the pure material value of munzen or paper money once. Electronic money does not even have a matter that could be attached to a value. For the exchange, however, the question of the material value of the money is not relevant. The only value behind the computing unit is confidence — confidence in the fact that you get a hard-to-calculate equal value in material or ideal form for a computing unit from a potential exchange partner. The possible value loss of this arithmetic unit in the future is not relevant, he only promotes the storage function and not the function as a swug. Decisive for the exchange function alone is the general if necessary by law, acceptance of the exchange.
Here, money differs, for example, of valuable exchange, which are not guaranteed by law. While an ounce of gold is called his own, is under circumstances a swap partner who manifests him for a product — but the vast majority of exchange partners will refuse to accept this exchange and point out that the customer please prove to the legal protection exchanged and paid with money. Since the introduction of the paper money, gold is only a commodity whose value is measured in money, and which is traded in the computing unit. There is also the so-called "Regio money", which is accepted only by certain — mostly regionally concentrated — acceptance points. Regio money may be a nice PR campaign to win customers for their own products and services, but an alternative to real money is not because nobody is a statutory guarantee for this "money" spent.
Fantastic values? But not the money
So simply the exchange function is to be grasped, it becomes complicated, if one considers the second cardinal monetary function: money should — in theory — retain its sweep value in the long run. This feature requires our modern money but only very professed. For example, old courses were always as much value as the metal from which they exist. However, as pure power storage, such a monetary model is not optimally suited, is one as the owner of the mune, but of supply and demand of the relevant metal and the prageyness of the "Mun" addicted.
Inflation — the built-in evaluation factor
Modern money already has an implicit expiration date known better under the name Inflation. Central banks have the task of ensuring that the exchange value of the money is preserved, or — if possible — decreases. This loss of value is to be achieved by the central banks by a money-volume control. By expanding or shortening the offer to loans, theoretically and often practically — the circulating money amount increased in a MAB, which reduces the exchange value of the money. Although the ECB defines the "Pricing" As a purpose, however, a loss of value of something below 2% per year is meant, which is specified as an inflation goal. Critics This monetarist approach even see a high inflation destination as a desirable value.
Interest as a driving force of the economy
Why does the state do not stable the value of money stable? If the burgers no longer spend their money, but were hoarding under their pillows, this money was not in the economy and thus weak the economic cycle. The demand theorist Keynes spoke in this context of money hoarding and liquidity award. Incidentally, the interest is also a driving force that motivates money owners to entrust their money to a bank. Anyone who is to lend his savings or their wealth of a foreign person has a legitimate interest in that he not only gets a risk of risk for the potential loss of money, but also an inflation compensation. Who gives his money interest-free, makes automatically loss. Even if the loan is in full of high, the money is only nominally as much value at the time of lending graduation as at the time of lending — in between is inflation. What financial seller — mostly young social reformer Silvio company — loudly as "circulating money", "Freelance" or "Vanity" Demand, is de facto since the beginning of the controlled inflation has been reached.
Interest and inflation are a guarantor that banks can work properly, as the burger wants to protect his savings grosches and money he does not need at the moment before the loss of value, by giving it to his bank that keeps this money and thus an interest rate profit achieved. In theory, the banks give customer deposits with a variable risk premium and "Processing" to investors. In practice, however, it has been found that the banks hardly perceive this core task and instead different "Innovation" developed, which strictly speaking the money chopping out of that. The abuse of the banking system by itself were open to tur and gate.
The coarse interest gains (and losses) are no longer achieved in the real economy, but in a synthetic monetary economy, which is usually only rudimentary based on real economic trials and has otherwise existed. Banks do not give their deposits either at all or to unacceptable conditions to borrowers, "to press" For this all the better synthetic money based on customer deposits, with which they speculate on synthetic market. The status quo is undoubtedly unsatisfactory, but has little interest in itself to do.
Money is not the same
The equation of money and wealthy is always made, although it is meaningless because money is only a computing unit for liquid resources — in positive, as in the negative. A house that has been completely paid off and for no loan was registered as a security, for example, does not appear in any money balance until it is striving or sold. Who on his checking account 1.000 Euro has and additionally has a house that is on the market 100.000 Euro value goods, does not have 101.000 Euro, but 1.000 EURO. No matter what money amount (M1, M2 or M3) you look at, the house does not dive there. So if you surprise yourself about the miraculous proliferation of recent years, should not fall away from the misconception that this had to do anything with the propagation of missing — it was made only more matters by selling or mortgage. In the context of the gigantic privatization wave, the states have played a secular role. The water pipe of a public water supply, which is already depreciated, also looks like the paid house of the private individual in no cash invoice. However, if the water pipe is sold or awarded as a commodity component of the water supply by credit to a private investor, the amount of money is increasing by the accounted value plus zinslast.
Money is to blame?
Look at least since the financial crisis proliferation a variety — mostly esoteric — Geldtheorien on the Internet. To the most popular theories belong this from the former picture vice Paul C. Martin was causing debitism. The debitizus sees that "true beings" the money not in his exchange or value storage function, but in a religious compensation (original debt). However, from academic point of view, this theory is a realistic metaphysical theory that rather moves to religious philosophical than scientific terrain. You can make a credo his faith excuses? The success of the debitism in the German-speaking Internet will probably be a semantic: blame is concerned in German both for money debt as well as the ethical-philosophical and the legal significance of the term. In English one separates between "Guilt" and "Debt" and thus avoids a fundamental calvinistic mixing of the terminology.
It is indeed so that money is generated by transport. Behind it is not a shurcane master plan to enslave the world, but the much unmysterior basis of merchant booking. Money is a computing unit that meets a claim against private individuals, companies or the state. However, there must be a liability for every requirement. It’s natural a breeze that money always represents a real counterpart. At the first paper money notes of the Bank of England was still in handwritten script the sentence "I loobe, the owner on request an amount in high … pay off" — Money has always meant a documented ownership claim. This also has the modern "Fiat Money" (Credit-soft money) Nothing mandated. Since our modern money is not covered by values, but by trust in the economy, however, this requirement has no practical use in the event of collapse of the monetary system.
Part II is about the gold standard, the public chopping and the question of why the state emits its bonds over banks.