>Money is nothing but a sophisticated barter system. I think we are all in agreement there. But it has such sophistication and is so amazingly efficient that i

>Money is nothing but a sophisticated barter system. I think we are all in agreement there. But it has such sophistication and is so amazingly efficient that it has an intrinsic value as a mere concept. This is because it enables activities that would otherwise be impossible. A good analogy would be a computer program. This i think is where we differ. But i think it's obvious that money is more than "nothing"- after all it sustains the entire banking industry. >The difference (some would argue, improvement) is that shekels have a worth of their own, so can be stored against harder times Again this isn't (and was never) the true reason for money. It was only a security against the money and helped people to visualise the concept better (i know i'm oversimplifying but i think that's the basic idea)