Analysis: The Ascent Of Money

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The Ascent of Money
Niall Ferguson clearly illustrates the importance of money in the world’s history. Ferguson even goes back to the days of the Incas. He gives prime reasoning as to why money issues may have begun in the first place. Ferguson states that during the time of the Incas they were the first people having to deal with money. Unlike today’s day and era, green paper money was not the type of money being dealt during this time. Silver was the cherished income of this time. Europeans were the first to show interest towards the silver, making the Incas wonder since they were unaware of the fact that the silver could make money. The video emphasized the idea that money started as just a form of different things that were being traded
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During this first video, Ferguson said a lot of comments that drew my attention and once he explained them further and I got to think about what exactly it is that he said, the statements were very true. Ferguson says, “Money is about trust and faith” (DocuDeck. The Ascent of Money-Dreams). When making this statement, Ferguson was talking more about the world of credit. He explains how those that have money and those that put their money in banks have to have a lot of trust and faith in that banking system. There needs to be trust and faith in the banking system because of how much of the money in the banks are being used elsewhere. A lot of that trust can be put in the Federal Reserve System because they are the ones that are over the banking system. The Federal Reserve System is in charge of overseeing the banking system and to regulate the quantity of money in the economy” (Chapter 29 Slideshow). Ultimately, the Federal Reserve System are in charge of making sure the banking system is in order and ultimately making sure all is well with the money of others that is in the banks. The video also states, “Without credit the entire economic history of our world would be impossible” (DocuDeck. The Ascent of Money-Dreams). This statement is not hard to believe when thinking about the technology and …show more content…
Because of the disaster that was brought from turning off the cotton trade, there was exhaust in their domestic bond market. These incidents are what lead to creation of paper money in not only the south, but also the North as well. The only difference between the paper currencies created in each location was the fact that the two paper currencies had different prices. The North’s paper money was more expensive as opposed to the South’s paper money. This process caused an explosion of inflation. When I first heard this information, I instantly got different ideas as to what exactly that means and how that affects the country as a whole. The slideshow states “inflation does not in itself reduce people’s real purchasing power.” Later in the slideshow it states “Inflation distorts relative prices. Consumer decisions are distorted. Markets are less able to allocate resources to their best use.” These are all negative aspects that come from the process of

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