Money Is Backed by Everything
jaysoncoomer.com
jaysoncoomer.com
Money is a contract; no more, no less. A unit of money essentially represents some amount of goods, services, or labor, all of which ultimately boil down to some amount of work.
Oh, and the value of work also varies over the long term depending on factors such as supply, demand, and perceived importance. (And in the case of humans, things like experience, education, and location).
Measurement tools whose value changes every second are the only sensible measurement tools. A voltmeter that reads five volts all the time, regardles of actual electric potential present, is as useless as anything can be.
> A unit of money essentially represents some amount of goods, services, or labor, all of which ultimately boil down to some amount of work.
Exactly. And what money meadures is exactly that ratio of goods to goods, goods to services, services to work, etc etc. Which all constantly fluctuate in relation to each other, so no fucking wonder the value of money does, too.
A volt is a volt, it doesn't change.
The value of a dollar changed even during the time it took you read this comment.
Since “the value” of everything else in dollars is what the unit “dollar” is supposed to measure, it’s inevitable that the value of the dollar in terms of everything else also changes.
If your kid grows bigger, you can't complain to your wife that “A foot was a third of a Little Joey last year, but it's only a quarter of him now! Damn, the foot sucks as a unit of measure!” Or, well, of course you could, but that would be idiotic.
When the price of bread doubles, then yes, the dollar that used to be worth a loaf is now worth only half a loaf. Complaining about how that is “a change in the value of a dollar” is about as smart as complaining about how the foot isn't the same amount of Little Joeys as it used to be.