The stone money history is tremendously interesting, I heard a little about stone money in my Economics class when we were talking about the medium of exchange, the unit of accounting, and the store of value but did mention the Yap and German propaganda.
When I heard the deeper story of the Yap in class, at first I couldn’t help myself but to think that they were naive on some concepts of their monetary system. More specifically in the article “The Island of Stone money”, a family was mentioned whom wealth was unquestioned for three generations. Traditionally known for owning the biggest and most beautiful fei (stone money) that sank in the sea. Despite the fact that no one seen the fei, not even the family and still consider it as the family’s asset was a little crazy for me. But after farther readings, I realized the system used in the present is not every different than what was used by the Yap.
The median of exchange is very similar to what is presently used, if we a cut a check for someone the ink on that paper makes it valuable. The check can be ripped but the money will remain in the owners bank account which is very similar to the “Fei underwater”. Nobody have seen the actual money but there is a written statement that convince us of its presence but this is different for an actual dollar bill. A dollar bill is made with paper and ink just like a check but if totally ripped or burned, the value is reduced to zero.
This made me question the true value of money. Adams Smith and David Ricardo came up with the theory of its value “work is the only true method of exchange and the model for value.” But is this still true to our days? I doubted cause after the wall street journal, it costs 1.7 cents to produce a penny. It made me realize our effort and services are more expensive than the dollar we are paid with, money is worth what us the people think it is. The Yap valued big stones that now is looked at as priceless things, each dollar had gold value attached to it but now nothing and yet we still depend on it. Money is only a method for the government to control the population and its power.
The only things with true value on the planet are living things, whether it’s trees, animals or humans. Gold is extracted by humans, Dollar is made by humans, everything with value in our present day is made or found by living things. If money was the most valuable thing the US would’ve paid its eighteen trillions debt by now because the lenders could use that money.
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Counterintuitive Spring 2024 
Feedback was requested. (How to illustrate my example with physical object? I tried but I’m not sure I did it right.)
Feedback provided. —DSH
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Thank you for your question, sall.
First, I offered you the choice of describing how your concept of money has changed since hearing the story of the Yap, mostly as a crutch to help you get started writing. Now that you have produced some valuable materials, you should revise for a wider audience. General readers will not be interested in your Economics class particularly, unless you can tell them something important and persuasive that you learned there. Even so, it’s the concept, not where you learned it, that would be compelling.
If you want to start with a physical object, start with that huge stone fei that sank into the sea. Describe it for readers who don’t already know the story. I’ll let you decide when to tell them that a family was considered wealthy even though no living person had ever seen their “money.” You could pose it as a thought experiment: Imagine a wealthy family that everyone agreed was rich but who could never produce their money, and didn’t have to.
I absolutely love the comparison of the check and the dollar. You have touched on something very important here: When our wealth is digitized, it can survive without physical evidence (so can debt, by the way, even if the loan papers are burned). The same cannot be said of cash.
The theory that “work is the only true method of exchange” is certainly tempting, but it’s not very physical, and it doesn’t apply to big areas of commerce. It doesn’t apply to interest payments, stock dividends, gambling, art auctions, etc.
I have no idea what you mean by your last sentence.
Grade Code 7D0
You didn’t ask for a grade, sall, but I’m going to try to provide one every time I read a post, mostly for my own sake.
Critique the critique: If you appreciate receiving feedback, sall, please reply to indicate whether you found the critique helpful or not, and if so, how it was helpful. Of course, if it wasn’t helpful, you should tell me why. Thanks!
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It was very helpful, it points out things that should be deleted and those are misplaced. Most importantly, it tells me the good part that could be developed for a bigger audience.
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