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> Cigarettes in prisons are used as money. No. That's barter. Money has very specific characteristics. Cigarettes in prison fail these three: divisibility, dur
by lingben 11y ago
> Cigarettes in prisons are used as money.
No. That's barter. Money has very specific characteristics. Cigarettes in prison fail these three: divisibility, durability and uniformity.
https://www.stlouisfed.org/education/economic-lowdown-podcast-series/episode-9-functions-of-money https://www.stlouisfed.org/education/economic-lowdown-podcas...
- namenotrequired 11y agoThe article you link yourself makes clear that those are desired, "ideal" characteristics, not the definition as you suggest.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- dnautics 11y agoI always thought that money has three characteristics: fungibility, divisibility, and verifiability (although divisibility can be relaxed for small values). Cigarettes pass two of the three, and fail only the weakest one, in a fashion that doesn't matter.
- geomark 11y agoCigarettes have all those properties, just somewhat imperfectly. Cartons are divisble to packs which are divisible to individual cigarettes. Cigarettes are pretty durable - if you don't get them wet and avoid breaking them they have a reasonably long shelf life. And they are pretty uniform in each division - carton, pack, cigarette. Since prisons allow prisoners to smoke cigarettes they have the cover of utility while being used as money.