> Well, let's start with commodities. They have value, see, and that value contains both the exchange value and the use value Worth remembering also, that what

> Well, let's start with commodities. They have value, see, and that value contains both the exchange value and the use value Worth remembering also, that what you call "exchange value" is essentially a derivative of what you call "use value". I can use (eat) a side of beef. I cannot eat 50 sides of beef before it spoils. To get any value at all our of the other 49 sides of beef I have to find a market (49 other people who want to eat beef) and exchange it for something else. If there is no "use value" though, there's no market. Exchange value (prices) will change based on market conditions, but use value only changes with occasional technological innovation (freezers to freeze your beef, new industrial or chemical uses for gold, etc). This is where fiat currencies come in. Fiat currencies like the US$ have a "use value", and that use is legally settling debts (being legal tender[0]), and paying my taxes (which actually are debts). In any case, I think the extreme gold bugs who see fiat currencies all collapsing and gold going to the moon really over-estimate the market demand for gold in any scenario where shit hits the fan that bad. I mean, one way or another, whatever Government is in power is going to want to eat 25-50% of your income in taxes, regardless of what currency you use. [0] Many people also misunderstand what "legal tender" means. The Bank of England has a good explanation of this: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-tender https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/knowledgebank/what-is-legal-...