While this is an interesting factoid about money and can be useful in understanding some questions about money (eg, "what happens if my bank goes bankrupt") I'm

While this is an interesting factoid about money and can be useful in understanding some questions about money (eg, "what happens if my bank goes bankrupt") I'm not sure how helpful it actually is for gaining a clear understanding of how money works in practice. Trying to explain why a dollar bill is debt, for example, is not straightforward. I guess different people think differently, but when I find myself tied in knots trying to think about interest rates, inflation and the banking system, I find it helpful to remember that money is an asset, and is subject to the same basic principles (eg, supply and demand) as any other asset. Of course, it's really just the other side of the same coin - money is an asset to one person and a liability to another.