East
Exchange
You scratch my back...and I'll give you a dollar.
Money is everywhere, and it plays a role in just about
everything you do. But why are those pieces of paper
and discs of metal worth anything at all?
Money is different from plain paper because it represents
value. Before the world had money, people traded goods
they had, or services they could offer, in exchange
for goods and services they wanted.
But trading sometimes became complicated when one person
had something to trade, but nothing he or she wanted
to trade it for. And when the goods they were trading
could rot or spoil, waiting to trade wasn’t really
an option.
What was missing was a way to save the value of what
was traded until the trader was ready to spend it. So
money was invented because it wouldn't spoil or go moldy.
Money represents the value of what we’ve traded
so that we can spend it on something we really want
– when we want it.
