Money
A medium of exchange that functions as a unit of account, a store of value, and a means for deferred payment. Initially, money enhanced economic development by enabling goods to be bought and sold without bartering. However, throughout history, money has been beset by the problem of its debasement as a store of value due to inflation. Now that the money supply is a state monopoly, most governments are committed in principle to stable prices [Law, p. 224]. This may include physical objects, notes, coins, book or computer entries, or bank deposits. Money was originally a physical substance such as gold or silver, which was valued for its own sake before it came to be used as coinage [Black, Hashimzade, Myles, p. 230]. Money has existed almost as long as societies have been exchanging goods and services internally or with other societies. What counts as money has always been a matter of convention—for example, certain sea shells in one society and gold coins in another. This reflects that money is not helpful or valuable because of its physical form but because of the social functions, it is designed to serve [Rogers, Castree, Kitchin, p. 272]. In ancient Rome, money was coined in a temple goddess Juno, where she was identified with a pre-Roman goddess called Moneta, known as Juno Moneta. Latin moneta has come down to English as money and also as mint. The root of all evil comes from the biblical Book of Timothy, where it is stated more carefully that ‘the love of money is the root of all evil.’ People down the ages have agreed that money can’t buy happiness, though this exact form appeared only in the 19th century [Cresswell, p. 359].
Law, J. (2016). A Dictionary of Accounting (5 ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Black, J., Hashimzade, N., Myles, G. (2017). A Dictionary of Economics (5 ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rogers, A., Castree, N., Kitchin, R. (2013). A Dictionary of Human Geography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cresswell, J. (2021). Oxford Dictionary of World Origins (3 ed.) Oxford: Oxford University Press.