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Comment by grecy | Hacker News Reader

I guess I don't see it like that at all. I see it as the olden days where banks (or countries) actually had gold reserves for the amount of money that exists. (I know it doesn't work like that anymore)

I also don't really agree that the bank owes my friend that $100k. They're just holding it for him. If you store your car at my house I'm not in debt to you. Your car is just sitting at my house for a while and you can come and get it whenever you want. It's no skin off my nose, and it doesn't impact me financially, because I'm not in debt to you. In the same way when I put money in my bank account the bank is just agreeing to store my money for a while. They are not in debt to me.

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Sure, you owe him a car for the duration, the fact that he can get it whenever he wants doesn't change much. If the car you stored goes missing (and you set up a contract) you'll find you now owe him money.

Another interesting thing is that you (a bank) will typically store not one but a hundred cars, and you will lend 90% of those to other people at any given point, in exchange for money. So everyone thinks their car is stored in a garage and they can get it whenever but they probably can't. The system only works because people don't need their cars that much.

Fractional reserve car pooling is one of the best business models for self-driving cars besides car soldierity, that I have read about.

The bank doesn’t store your money, it turns around and lends it to someone else, hoping that the interest it receives on that debt (eg. a mortgage) is greater than the interest it pays you. While I don’t agree with the overall ‘money is debt’ statement, it is definitely true that you lend your money to the bank. You don’t park it like a car. This is why there can be times that you ask for your money and they don’t have it (the reason for FDIC insurance).

> I also don't really agree that the bank owes my friend that $100k.

I am sorry if I sound blunt, but I do not see this something that is a question of opinion or something one can feasibly agree or disagree with. This is pretty much true by definition.

Yes, I know it feels different if you lend your money to a bank or to your friend, but it is only because you can use the debt of the bank as means of payment more easily.

Even if you look at a gold backed currency. Then someone (whoever issued the money and backs it with gold) ows you an amount of gold.

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