A huge politics-free dose of reality for the economy.

[davester]

Bernanke finally made a smart economic move...

The U.S. economy ceased to function this week after unexpected existential remarks by Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke shocked Americans into realizing that money is, in fact, just a meaningless and intangible social construct.

More here:
a dose of economic reality

[Mini 9]

I would 100% concur. And yet we still fall for it.

[Ombligo]

In 1850 a man could by a nice suit with an ounce of gold worth about $20. Today that same ounce of gold is worth around $1000. For that amount of money a man can buy a nice suit.

[freeradical]

"Yap is notable for its stone money, known as Rai: large doughnut-shaped, carved disks of (usually) calcite, up to 4 m (12 ft) in diameter (most are much smaller). The smallest can be as little as 3.5 centimetres (1.4 in) in diameter [3]. There are five major types of monies: Mmbul, Gaw, Fe' or Rai, Yar, and Reng, this last being only 0.3 m (1 ft) in diameter. Many of them were brought from other islands, as far as New Guinea, but most came in ancient times from Palau. Their value is based on both the stone's size and its history. Historically the Yapese valued the disks because the material looks like quartz, and these were the shiniest objects around. Eventually the stones became legal tender and were even mandatory in some payments."



The island of stone money.