Money (Global ???)

[Frankychan]

My friend and I were watching Die Hard w/a Vengeance and we got to discussing global economies. I'm pretty sure you all know that when my friends and I get loaded, we start discussing some crazy stuff...anyway...

I know that back in the day, countries around the world based their currency off of precious minerals and all that jazz, but as the world changed and our economics have changed I don't think our currency depends on gold anymore.

So, I ask the good/educated/opinionated people of Apolyton these two questions for my own personal growth.

1) What is our dollar based on now?

2) Why do countries still keep their reserves of gold, diamonds, silver, platinum, etc around? What purpose does it fulfill nationally?

[Mrs. Tuberski]

I can only state the dollar is based on spending it as for ur other ? i have no clue
Good/ educated / and opininated

[:) Smiley]

1) nothing

2) If they were to try to unload it, they'd be taking a huge loss.

[DanS]

(1) The full faith and credit of the currency issuer. It's called "fiat money."

(2) Not much use. But they can't dump the gold all at once, otherwise the price of gold would plummet. Countries come to an agreement about when and how much each is going to sell.

[Blake]

1) Smoke and Mirrors.

2) Liquid assets with real value?

[Flip McWho]

I'd like to chuck in a third question if I may.

3) Why can't the world switch to a global currency? (i.e like the euro is to the EU but on a global scale)

[Blake]

3) Money is power. A global currency would involve a redistribution of power, to either a SINGLE central monetary authority, or to the people, depending on how the currency is designed. Such redistributions of power are strongly resisted by those who currently have the power.

[Flip McWho]

Also the implementation of a global currency would take the regulatory power over the economy away from the individual states and into one central authority. States wouldn't really like that I suppose.

[DaShi]

Plus, they'd all argue over whose face to put on it.

[Sandman]

Another question: Are you allowed to mint your own money in a libertarian society?

[Blake]

Ofcourse. (In the figurative not literal sense, since the money would be electronic not physical)

But it's nessecary to use a non-fiat currency.

Electronic non-fiat money, can you wrap your head around that one?

[planet]

1. A computer program.
2. Do they? Are you sure?

[Frankychan]

So...wait.

All that gold at Fort Knox doesn't really serve a national purpose? It's just there to be there? I thought that we held that gold there just in case the US needed some way of determining its value if something bad happened.

[:) Smiley]

The main uses of gold are jewelry and high quality wires. With fiberoptics and integrated circuits, the second use is diminishing.

To answer the question of what to put on a global currency, the euro uses drawings of generic windows and bridges.

http://www.ecb.int/bc/banknotes/looks/html/index.en.html

The higher the denomination, the more recent the style of said bridges and windows. This works out quite handily when inflation requires newer, larger denominations to be issued.

[Sava]

that scene where Bruce Willis told Samuel L jackson to pull the antilock brakes out was awesome... he like hit the brakes and spun the car around and was firing his gun and totally shot those guys in the face while the car was going like 50mph backwards on the highway1!!!!

PWNED!~