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{{ | {{def|Money|/ˈmʌni/|n|[[File:Hammurabi.jpg|450px|thumb|center|A theoretical conceptualisation of money yesterday]]}}{{quote|''“I don’t need [[money]]. I need questions answered.'' <br> | ||
''Question number one: Can I have some [[money]]?”'' | |||
:—Ford Fairlane, in {{fr|The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Rock ’n’ Roll Detective}}}} | |||
1. A simple, but gravely misunderstood thing. | |||
A simple, but gravely misunderstood thing. | 2. An abstract, immaterial, token of value. ''Money is not an [[asset]]. It is not [[property]].'' Money is is a ''token of abstract value''. It is a will ’o’ the wisp, a woodland sprite, an ephemerality which floats freely of the mortal chains of commerce. It is [[derivative]] of ''nothing'', beyond the common opinion of merchants in the town square. It is like Sandy Denny, or one of those free-spirited hippie types that dances round toadstools: It cannot be owned, only ''held''<ref>{{ford fairlane bonus plan}}</ref> — which is another way of saying ''whoever holds it [[Ownership|holds]] it, outright, against all the world''. No-one has a better claim over a unit of money that the one who, [[for the time being]] holds it. | ||
'' | |||
No-one has a better claim over a unit of money that the one who, [[for the time being]] holds it. | |||
[[Cash]] requires your total commitment, or nothing: you can’t futz around with it, you can’t declare a [[trust]] over it,<ref>You can declare a [[trust]] over an account that ''holds'' cash, of course: a subtly, but significantly, different thing.</ref> [[pledge]] it, or even hold it for anyone other than ''yourself''. If you ''could'', this would undermine the practical value of money ''as'' money: a £5 note, to be meaningful, must be a token worth exactly £5. A [[bank note]] has no intrinsic value — it’s a scruffy bit of paper. If its [[nominal value|''nominal'' value]] is £5 but you fear that the person giving it to you may not own it — that is, may not have the ''unalienable legal right to give that piece of paper to you''; that there is a risk that some random may snatch it from your hands after you have given up your own precious goods in exchange for it, alleging some prior, superior, ownership right — ''then it does not have a value of £5 any more''. | [[Cash]] requires your total commitment, or nothing: you can’t futz around with it, you can’t declare a [[trust]] over it,<ref>You can declare a [[trust]] over an account that ''holds'' cash, of course: a subtly, but significantly, different thing.</ref> [[pledge]] it, or even hold it for anyone other than ''yourself''. If you ''could'', this would undermine the practical value of money ''as'' money: a £5 note, to be meaningful, must be a token worth exactly £5. A [[bank note]] has no intrinsic value — it’s a scruffy bit of paper. If its [[nominal value|''nominal'' value]] is £5 but you fear that the person giving it to you may not own it — that is, may not have the ''unalienable legal right to give that piece of paper to you''; that there is a risk that some random may snatch it from your hands after you have given up your own precious goods in exchange for it, alleging some prior, superior, ownership right — ''then it does not have a value of £5 any more''. | ||