Out in the Pacific Ocean, there is a tiny island called Yap which used a currency that would seem crazy to most of us. The people of Yap, known as Yaps, used limestone wheels as a form of payment, just like the dollar in our society. These limestone wheels were knows as Fei. But in order to acquire fei the Yaps would have to sail out to big limestone deposits on other islands hundreds of miles away. Then they would have to cut out wheels of varying size, and sail them all the way back to Yap. Since this wasn’t exactly an easy process, it was agreed that the bigger the fei a person owned, the wealthier that person was. The fei got to be so big that people wouldn’t even bother moving them when they exchanged them. The wheel would just change possession.

‘One time, according to the island’s oral tradition, a work crew was bringing was bringing a giant stone coin back to yap on a boat. And just before they got back to the island, they hit a big storm. The fei wound up on the bottom of the ocean.The crew made it back to the island and told everybody what happened. And everybody decided that the fei was still good — even though it was on the bottom of the ocean.’ (Island of Stone Money) And so today, due to inheritance, there’s someone who owns the biggest fei in the history of Yap, and nobody who’s alive had ever seen it.

At first after hearing this, I was very surprised. It didn’t make sense to me that the fei was still acknowledged after being lost at sea. After all, the crew that was supposed to come back with it could’ve just lied and nothing would be any different. But after some deeper thinking, the idea came to me that this lost fei is not very different from our modern system of credit. I mean what really happens when you buy something with a credit card? Basically you, the buyer, are telling the seller that you have enough money to pay for the item. But the money is in some box miles away. The seller, without ever seeing this money, trusts you and accepts the swipe of a tiny piece of plastic. And then you go on your way while the only thing that changes is a few numbers on some computer somewhere. No one really bothers to think too much about credit, but in reality, your ‘money’ might as well be at the bottom of the ocean next to some big old limestone wheel.

Up until our last class discussion, I never really took the time to think about the concept of money.  After learning about currency in other cultures I realized how fragile ours was. Our entire economy revolves around pieces of paper. These small pieces of paper have virtually no value in and of themselves. But when someone hands me a dollar, I can’t help but feel wealthier. Why is that? The dollar can’t directly bring me happiness. Only when I’m able to exchange for something else does it appear valuable. However, the only reason I put such faith in this paper is because I know that everyone else will accept it as payment. Without this abstract ‘guarantee’ the dollar would be useless.Ultimately, our money is only as valuable as the faith we put into it.

Works Cited:

Kestenbaum, David. “The Island of Stone Money.” Planet Money. 10 Dec. 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.

Friedman, Milton. “The Island Of Stone Money.” The Hoover Institution, 1 Feb. 1991. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.

“Money and the Illusion of Wealth.” Enough Already. Web. 1 Feb. 2015.

Ray, Roger. “The Truth About Money: It’s Just a Concept” Springfield News Leader. 6 Feb. 2014. 2 Feb. 2015