| | Money solves this inefficiency. You accumulate dollars by doing work for someone who wants or needs it, and then use those dollars to buy the goods and services that you desire. The person or company who receives your dollars can then spend it in yet another way. | | Money solves this inefficiency. You accumulate dollars by doing work for someone who wants or needs it, and then use those dollars to buy the goods and services that you desire. The person or company who receives your dollars can then spend it in yet another way. |
| − | Money is, in many ways, a form of communication. Donating money to a political candidate or a charity makes a statement. Buying expensive clothes, a luxury car, or a showy house is like free speech too. We often judge the value of something by looking at its price. We expect a car that costs $30,000 to have higher quality than a car that costs only $15,000. We don’t even have to drive each car to know that. Sometimes the price can be misleading, of course. But often price is a good indicator of the underlying value of the good or service. | + | Money is, in many ways, a form of communication. Donating money to a political candidate or a charity makes a statement. Buying expensive clothes, a luxury car, or a showy house is like a form of speech too. We often judge the value of something by looking at its price. We expect a car that costs $30,000 to have higher quality than a car that costs only $15,000. We don’t even have to drive each car to know that. Sometimes the price can be misleading, of course. But often price is a good indicator of the underlying value of the good or service. |
| | Money is used to obtain food for starving people and for helping them in other ways. Or money can promote evil, as when communist or terrorist countries use money to try to destroy freedom. | | Money is used to obtain food for starving people and for helping them in other ways. Or money can promote evil, as when communist or terrorist countries use money to try to destroy freedom. |