The Fundamentals of Money and Financial Systems

Introduction

According to some historians, money has been used for at least 3,200 years, in one form or another. Throughout most of this period, it was very difficult to think of an economy without money. However, with the advent of online banking and direct payment, most people no longer see their “money,” although they still have income and conduct transactions. The concern here is not about pinpointing the exact day that money was invented, or in giving an account of all the different, and at times exotic things that have been used as money in different parts of the world. Rather, the focus is on the conditions that give rise to the exchange of goods and services. For this reason, the concept of an economy without money in the form of hard ...