6.1 Money
(A) Definition and Meaning: Money is today
popularly used in performing almost all economic transactions i.e.
activities which includes the transfer of goods or services from one
person or organization to another. It may be in the form of cash and currency or bank
credit, bank papers like cheques, deposits, drafts, or in other near
money forms such as bonds, shares, securities etc. Presently we will
begin with officially supplied money in the form of currency notes. Money has a long history and has passed through several evolutionary forms such as wealth in the form of sheep, coins, gold and silver metals and has finally arrived at paper currency stage. Metallic money or coins is called commodity money while paper currency is known as paper money or fiat money. Another category is bank money which includes the credit that banks offer to depositors.
Paper currency has been increasingly issued and
circulated in the present century. It has several advantages over
money in the form of gold or silver. It saves the use of precious
metals and is less risky to hold. Further, one finds it more convenient
to transact with the help of paper currency in small or large
quantities. But an even more important feature of the paper currency is
its flexibility. Its supply is no more rigidly tied up with the availability of gold and silver.
In most countries that use paper currency, some fiduciary principle is followed by the monetary authorities. (If something is fiduciary it is said to enjoy the support and confidence of the public.) Under proportional fiduciary
the amount of paper currency can be conveniently altered whenever a
certain proportion, say 40 percent, of gold reserves are maintained.
The minimum fiduciary system is even more flexible. It requires
monetary authority to possess some minimum gold reserves (say 500 kg of
gold) to supply any quantity of paper currency. In either case it is
clear that in modern times actual supply or issue of paper currency is
much in excess and is never fully backed by gold reserves. Therefore
modern currency system is also known as fiat money system. The value of fiat money is actually much less than what it represents.
Money is general purchasing power. It can buy
anything and anywhere against itself. In order that money should
perform this role as general purchasing power, it must be universally acceptable.
This can be possible only when its value is fairly stable and it is
not subjected to disorder frequently. In reality, however, because of
its excess and flexible supply possibility, the value of money is likely
to fluctuate, particularly because paper currency is worth less in
its intrinsic (natural) value. Therefore the modern monetary agencies
hold a considerable responsibility of maintaining the value of money to
keep it as stable as possible. The attempt to achieve this is by
carefully controlling the supply of it.
Money as general purchasing power is used as a means
of exchange. Money is not normally demanded for itself but for using as
a means or medium in buying and selling activities. Therefore money is
judged as reliable and trustworthy or otherwise to the extent that it
can perform its own functions. Therefore money is commonly defined in
terms of its functions. Professor Walker’s simple definition clearly brings out these functions:
"Money is a matter of functions four,
Medium, Measure, Standard, Store."
Another definition based on its functions can be stated as, 'Money is what money does.'Medium, Measure, Standard, Store."
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