Rethinking the whole concept of money
2 min readAug 12, 2021
Written in 2017. Published in 2021.
After 3 weeks of solo traveling in Vietnam and having a lot of time to think, read and write, my views on the construct of money have changed.
- Is our current financial system is broken?
Money isn’t necessarily the paper. It is a mere construct of what we see fit and presently it is in the form of paper/plastic notes controlled by the government and financial institutions.
- 1930's
- 1950's
- 2008
- Present Day
During each of these periods, we did not value plastic or paper money as we do now.
- Before WWII, the US pegged the dollar with the gold standard following the concept of sound money (money not liable to sudden appreciation or depreciation in value).
- After the war ended, the US decided not to relate to the gold but the federal ‘reserve’ would make decisions on how it is supplied to the economy. This decision was accepted and we continued to live our lives.
- 2007/2008 demonstrated how greed can break the economy. The main film I watched during the Finance University course was the Big Short.
What I learned from my trip:
- ‘Money’ can be anything that we as a society start to put trust in. The value of money is relative
- It can change more often than not
- Sound money has been the most robust form of currency.
A note of Cryptocurrencies / Blockchain
I was warned that once I go down the Blockchain rabbit hole that I will never come back and I finally realize what they meant.
I believe cryptocurrencies / cryptoassets will play a role in our future society.
