Will our currency change?

[Keanumoreira]

As some of you imagine we are running low on paper. Someday the currency may change. Perhaps we'll use easier sources of money such as credits, although that's often pointed to space money so..... Anyway there has been talk that perhaps that when the day comes, trees will be a bigger priority and money will change. But if that's not the case perhaps inflation will force us to adapt or something. In my opinion I think someday it could change, but for what reason I don't know. But do you think we will still use paper money and coins?

[Vagrant0]

We aren't running low on paper so long as we're still wiping our rear-ends with it. Read up on Zimbabwe some time, they have a real problem due to how paper loses value the moment its turned into money. Don't buy into the eco-hype. In truth, logging companies plant more trees than they harvest, and have been doing so for over the last 30 years.

 

Also, to burst your bubble, the US currency is already on a credit standard instead of a gold standard. The only reason why we aren't using plastic to pay for everything is because there are too many transactions which public officials make that they don't want a digital record of.

[Trandoshan]

As some of you imagine we are running low on paper. Someday the currency may change. Perhaps we'll use easier sources of money such as credits, although that's often pointed to space money so..... Anyway there has been talk that perhaps that when the day comes, trees will be a bigger priority and money will change. But if that's not the case perhaps inflation will force us to adapt or something. In my opinion I think someday it could change, but for what reason I don't know. But do you think we will still use paper money and coins?

 

Historically, paper was never money. Everything was a gold this, or a silver that. The Promise that is the dollar bill would be laughed at in that era. even when Paper Money first began, it was usually backed by some sort of Gold or Silver. I know for a fact that in today's economies, paper money is basically a gesture of the current economic power of the country. Paper money is just that, paper. When the age of promise on a piece of paper ends, we will go back to gold and silver. Mark my words.

 

Of course, the notion that trees will outweigh the coin is ludicrous in today's capitalistic nations. When trees become more important than money, that is when humanity is truly off the deep end...

 

I can't fathom it, but this is a good debate topic!

[Aurielius]

Actually water is the only resource that will become more and more critical as the centuries wear on and the population continues to rise, so i could see a water based currency. Water rights are one (of the many) bones of contention between the Israeli and Palestinian factions. Limited supply of a valued commodity makes for a good medium of economic exchange. Fortunately for North America we have the largest supply on the planet, I guess we will be wealthy again if it comes to that.

[Maharg67]

We aren't running low on paper so long as we're still wiping our rear-ends with it. Read up on Zimbabwe some time, they have a real problem due to how paper loses value the moment its turned into money. Don't buy into the eco-hype. In truth, logging companies plant more trees than they harvest, and have been doing so for over the last 30 years.

 

Also, to burst your bubble, the US currency is already on a credit standard instead of a gold standard. The only reason why we aren't using plastic to pay for everything is because there are too many transactions which public officials make that they don't want a digital record of.

 

Eco-hype, as you call it, is not focused on running out of paper but on the destruction of the natural forests of the world to create much of that paper. Plantations can be good but they can also do damage, depending upon how they are set up etc.

 

As for paper money, Australia has switched to plastic notes that last much longer than paper ones, but this is probably beside the point.

 

I agree about people wanting to hide transactions but organised crime and even just folk avoiding taxation, often like cash for the same reason. Where would money laundering be with out it?

[AncientSpaceAeon]

Low on paper ? I hardly think so. I read it somewhere that the number of trees in recently have grown much more.

 

Currency change ? I don't think so.

[rebalious]

Actually "paper" money is made from cotton if I remember correctly, at least in the UK. Seriously feel the texture, doesn't quite feel like paper does it.

 

And I don't think cotton will vanish anytime soon :teehee:

[Balagor]

We have allready switched into a new currency; VISA, MASTER, you name it. Made of plastic. Just a number on the page in our netbank.

A big step away from stones, shells, silver and gold nuggets. The latter of cause still being a guarantee of each country´s wealth.

True, @ Aurielius, gold could be relieved by natural resourses like water, but only if a country has enough to trade with it.

[Maharg67]

The value of tradegoods depends on supply and demand be it land, food, water, gold or what ever else.

 

As for currency change, what do you mean? Chaning greenbacks to plastic money will not stop them being greenbacks.

 

The amount of money that is now purely electronic vastly outnumbers the amount of wealth represented by cash. It would be impossible to switch it all to cash. In that sense the whole world, including the USA, has already gone through a currency change.

 

Low on paper? On good rain forest hard wood, yes it is going. Sandlewood, for example, is now in shortages around the world thanks to demands on it to make incense sticks (joss sticks). The amount of wood is not the same as the quality of available wood.

[Vagrant0]

Low on paper? On good rain forest hard wood, yes it is going. Sandlewood, for example, is now in shortages around the world thanks to demands on it to make incense sticks (joss sticks). The amount of wood is not the same as the quality of available wood.

The trees used for paper for American currency are a native species which is farmed enough to ensure a constant supply for well beyond the next 20 years. I believe they also have started using a certain quantity of higher grade recycled paper to reduce the demand on logging. Only certain species are any good for being used in paper manufacturing anyway, so it's not like they'll be chopping down endangered species just to print money. No country is THAT stupid (I would hope).

 

As for the reason why gold was made a standard for currency, this is primarily due to the fact that gold is a fairly rare, pure element, that does not tarnish, corrode, or decay. Meaning that gold which was mined thousands of years ago is still probably in circulation if not sitting in a vault somewhere, virtually unchanged. Food, water, land, and most other forms of wealth either expire or eventually get destroyed.