I'd rather my paycheck be denominated in ...
Displaying poll results.26900 total votes.
I'd rather my paycheck be denominated in ...
A rock store eventually closed down; they were taking too much for granite.
A rock store eventually closed down; they were taking too much for granite.
Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Insightful)
Where is the "GOLD" option guys. Probably the only "currency" which is outpacing inflation by many miles
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Informative)
Pieces of 8
(Gold coins)
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Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Informative)
The Spanish dollar (aka Real) was able to be broken into eight wedge shaped pieces, or bits. Two bits were a quarter of the coin, a quarter of the dollar.
Please get the details correct here.
Commonly referred to as columnarios (for the Pillars of Hercules in the Spanish crest) or "pieza de a ocho" they had the value 8R (ocho reales) on a one ounce silver coin or cob. Smaller denominations were made in 4R, 2R, 1R, 1/2R and 1/4R. Cobs preceded the coins and the denominations were more meant for weight in trade silver rather than a face value.
Gold coins (and cobs) 8 escudos were valued at 16 reales (1 escudo = 2 reales.)
A popular market for early Spanish silver was the far east, where Spanish "Manila galleons" (so called for the broad hulls capable of navigating shallow harbors) transported silver from the New World to China to trade for silk, spices, china ware, exotic wood, etc.
That gold and silver not destined for trade in the orient was destined for Spain, largely to replenish the crown's coffers and pay debts owed to Spain's financiers in the Low Countries. Hence the economic disruption by privateers endorsed by the crowns of England and France at various times to keep Spain from becoming too wealthy and thus more powerful.
Arr.
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That's a common misconception.
Terry Pratchett did the same mistake, when he had a parrot say "twelve-and-a-half-percent", believing that a pieces of eight referred to "a piece (out) of eight", i.e. the bit being an eighth (12.5%) of the total, and not "a piece (consisting) of eight", i.e. the complete set of eight bits.
Here in the US, a quarter is still occasionally referred to as "two bits". If nothing else, people have heard phrases like "shave and a haircut, two bits" and "two-bit lawyer".
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Here in the US, a quarter is still occasionally referred to as "two bits".
Yes, and that is the point I was driving at, oh so many posts ago. The American dollar and its symbolic breakdown into four quarters is derived from the Spanish piece of eight and its physical breakdown into four quarters, each of which is two bits.
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Until someone invents replicators. Then we will have to switch to gold pressed latinum.
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Insightful)
Money replicator.. Isn't that called a bank?
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Informative)
Banks make money (and have done so for centuries) because deposited money which is loaned out is then present in two accounts. Mints only make representations of money (coins/bills/etc).
Not sure if that's what GP was going for but it's true that banks make much more of the "money" than government institutions these days.
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Insightful)
Where is the "GOLD" option guys. Probably the only "currency" which is outpacing inflation by many miles
And just like the NASDAQ in 1999 and housing prices in 2006, it can only go up in value, right?
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Last I checked, housing prices were still within the same order of magnitude they were in 2006. Less, but not mega-less. Paper money has no limit to how far it can drop in value. We call such a situation "hyper-inflation."
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Paper money has no limit to how far it can drop in value.
Oh, I don't think it can go much below zero.
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Oh, I don't think it can go much below zero.
Really? [wikipedia.org]
It has been used as wall paper, swept off the streets like rubbish, and in Germany, was used to burn to keep warm because it was cheaper than the amount of wood it would buy. It *can* be worth zero, or very nearly.
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:4, Informative)
Just to split a few hairs, paper money IS worth zero, regardless of inflation or anything else.
It's paper (well...cloth, but whatever. I'm not trying to split a whole hairstyle here.) The only reason it has any value at all is because society at large agrees that it has value.
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Insightful)
The only reason it has any value at all is because society at large agrees that it has value.
But that's true for most things including gold, US dollars, Apple stock, rare stamps, Van Gogh paintings, numbers in your bank account stored in some computer somewhere, numbers in your WoW account stored in some computer somewhere.
What would have inherent value to a human being would be stuff like good water/drinks and food.
Once you get beyond the necessities for survival it goes to "if enough people think it's valuable, it's valuable" and "your mind makes it real".
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Gold on the other hand can't be grown, can't be created by whim, it's by nature rare which is why it's valuable through any crisis
Just because something is rare doesn't make it valuable. It's basic supply and demand. What makes something valuable is dependent on how much people want it, how many people want it, and how rare it is. If nobody wants it, it doesn't matter how rare it is. It's worth nothing.
Most of gold's value is due to custom/tradition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold#Consumption [wikipedia.org]
quote: "The consumption of gold produced in the world is about 50% in jewelry, 40% in investments, and 10% in industry."
People jumping onto go
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Insightful)
Um, no.
That people had to sweep it off the streets isn't a valid argument; if I pour saffron on the streets, someone would have to sweep it off too, but that doesn't show that saffron holds a negative value, only that saffron on the street does.
Failure to realise a value isn't a liability.
People didn't throw the money away because holding on to it was a liability (i.e. it was worth less than zero), but because converting the close-to-zero value into gain wasn't cost-effective for them.
It's an asymptotic function:
x = money in circulation
f(x) = monetary value
lim f(x), x -> infinity = 0
0 is never negative, even for large values of x.
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For now, I feel much more comfortable about its value (perceived or not) than I currently do about our currency.
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Informative)
I think MREs would be a good idea. They keep basically forever and can be used to say alive.
I was a supply Marine, so I've dealt with MRE storage. I suppose it depends on your definition of forever, but MREs don't last that long. They aren't dehydrated, and are supposed to be kept as close to refrigerated temperatures for storage. If they are stored for contingency purposes they are supposed to be rotated out at least annually. As in, units deploying to the field for excessive get the year old MREs and they are replaced in storage with new ones.
At room temperatures (70-80F) they will last a few years. However, if there are temperature spikes over 100F it'll decrease life significantly.
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:4, Funny)
Hello heavy.
Take a bar of it and put it on a handle and you can easily beat someone to death with it. Home defense.
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That's because its monetary properties make it very valuable in indirect exchange.
Suitably rare, durable, malleable, resistant to corrosion, etc.
Iron could be some other planets' 'gold' so to speak, just happened to be Au here.
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:5, Insightful)
With gold, the downside risk is even worse than with the stock or housing market. A house is always worth something because it can generate income from rent. The same is true with stocks--the businesses on the whole will generate some profit, giving them some intrinsic value.
Gold generates no rent, no profits, no nothing. Unlike investments that generate money, gold has no intrinsic value; it is traded on pure speculation (industrial use is an insignificant part of the market).
In 1980 gold lost half its value basically overnight. There is no reason why this (or something worse) can't happen again.
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Sorry, but gold is not the end-all utopia the guys on the radio are hawking it to be. Guess who is making money off of gold right now...it's the guys selling it and dealing in the stocks. It ain't the guy with a couple of Eagles in his home safe.
We had the Great Depression on the gold standard, remember.
Great Depression - gold _was_ messed with (Score:3)
Early in the Depression, FDR changed the statutory gold price from $20/oz to $35/oz and recalled gold.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_6102 [wikipedia.org]
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We had the Great Depression on the gold standard, remember.
Nope. You had the Great Depression when Roosevelt seized all the gold and took the dollar off the gold standard in 1933, at least internally. Unsurprisingly this had the effect of impoverishing your country until about 1946, at least compared to what it was up to the 1920s.
Re:Obvious Missing - GOLD (Score:4, Informative)
It's right there: Pieces of eight. Pieces of eight are 1/8 of a gold coin.
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Plus where's the Euro?
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There is nothing special about gold. It is not the end-all be-all indicator of inflation. Inflation is measured as the overall increase in the prices of commodities and goods. All of them, not just gold.
If gold were really a true indicator then we should see massively skyrocketing prices all over the place, which we don't (gold has increased over 500% from 10 years ago). That is, unless you think that companies would knowingly price goods at a point where they lose all their profits and then some to inflati
€ (euro) (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:€ (euro) (Score:5, Informative)
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That's why I chose Imperial Credits. Political ramifications aside, it sounded like the closest things to ISK
Re:€ (euro) (Score:4, Interesting)
I doubt anyone would want a pay-"check" in euros. Or is there anyone left in the Euro zone who still receives his/her salary printed on a piece of paper that has to be signed and physically taken to a bank? That antique method is only still used in certain banking impaired countries like the USA. The last option is the only logical choice for us Europeans.
You have to be joking? People really get paid by paper cheque in the US when bank transfers are easier and cheaper?
I thought bank transfers were common everywhere except perhaps for things you would not want the government tracking.
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I don't know about the US, but in Hong Kong I use cheques a lot. Because they are CHEAPER (for me) than a bank transfer. Cheques are free, while all transfers costs money - except when it happens to be within your own bank.
Another option for a quick transfer that is free of charge is to withdraw cash and deposit it in the other bank (as long as the amount is not too big).
Indeed I would expect that banks try to phase out cheques as I'd say a cheque transfer costs more money for them (due to the manual chec
Re:€ (euro) (Score:4, Informative)
I doubt anyone would want a pay-"check" in euros. Or is there anyone left in the Euro zone who still receives his/her salary printed on a piece of paper that has to be signed and physically taken to a bank? That antique method is only still used in certain banking impaired countries like the USA. The last option is the only logical choice for us Europeans.
You have to be joking? People really get paid by paper cheque in the US when bank transfers are easier and cheaper?
I thought bank transfers were common everywhere except perhaps for things you would not want the government tracking.
It's still an option, but most pretty much every employer offers you the option of having the money directly deposited. I myself haven't received an actual paper check in years. Still, many lower wage workers still receive paper checks and take them to those god awful check cashing places *shudder*
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Still, many lower wage workers still receive paper checks and take them to those god awful check cashing places *shudder*
You have no idea. The company I work for employs a lot of people who don't have bank accounts so direct deposit is out and they cash their checks at the local money mart. They tend to take out more than it says on the check at what I consider a criminal level of interest and when those employees don't pay, guess who gets harassed day in day out? The employer.
One day my boss got so sick of explaining that we were not responsible for the debt our employees incur with other companies that he threatened to f
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In the US, the 30-40 and under crowd does a lot of electronic banking. The 40+ crowd still relies on che(ck/que)s and cash. And by that I mean for both pay and to purchase things like groceries and gasoline.
The last place I worked for, probably 50% or more of the employees got a piece of paper every 2 weeks that they'd take to the bank and have turned into numbers in their acco
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Bank transfers for consumers in the US will generally run in the region of $2 or 2%, whichever is more. Not sure about companies.
That's shocking. I didn't know you had it so bad. The fact this level of customer abuse doesn't happen in Europe is proof the US banks have no excuse for it.
Re:€ (euro) (Score:4, Informative)
While a percentage of us vote against the politicians that continue this madness, the vast majority are swayed by the hundreds of millions/billions of dollars the corporations pour into elections to keep them as profitable as possible. Why are corporations able to pour millions to billions of dollars into elections? Damn good question. The issue is that it will take people voting in politicians who want to fix that, and that's not likely. Due to the billions corporations will pour into elections to prevent those people from getting elected.
Re:€ (euro) (Score:5, Informative)
I suppose that means checking accounts are mandated in Europe?
As an European, I have no idea what a checking account is (an account from which the funds for checks you write is drawn I would guess), nor have I ever received or written a check.
Salaries are paid direct deposit to your bank account. From your bank account, you pay other people (online, or at the bank in person). Sending money is of course free over the entire euro area, and at least inside my country nearly instantaneous. If you have a debit card it can be used for paying for things directly by drawing from your bank account.
My understanding is that it doesn't work this way in the US because for some inexplicable reason your bank account number is considered a secret? In Europe, the bank account number is like an address, you give it to everyone who sends you money and you know the bank account of everyone who you need to send money to. Knowing the bank account of someone is only good for sending money, there's no way you could draw money from someone's account with it.
Re:€ (euro) (Score:5, Interesting)
There are people out there who cannot get checking accounts, either because they wrote one too many fantasy stories when they passed a check, or did other items that got negative entries by their name on the Chex Systems report.
Because of this, that is what the check cashing services are for. Not many people want to deal with the hassle of dealing with going to a Money-Emporium every time they get paid, especially having to get money orders for their rent and utility bills (which check cashing services tack additional fees for.) However until the bad credit entries drop off the credit reports, getting any type of bank account will be difficult.
There is an adage, "it's expensive to be poor". Check cashing services show that to be true.
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What stops them from getting a savings account? If there's a reason, I'm curious to know. They need to cash checks, not write them.
Re:€ (euro) (Score:5, Insightful)
You can still have a bank account if you are poor. No-frills, ATM only accounts are easy to get, have no minimum balance and no fees. If you can't get a bank account, it is most likely not because you are poor, but because you do shit you shouldn't, like write bad checks, or falsify personal information. Hell my (recently evicted) broke-ass, ex-roommate had a bank account, despite managing to overdraw it and other stupid things.
It really isn't that it is expensive to be poor, it is that it is expensive to routinely make bad decisions.
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It is a rather blatant omission in the poll options. If you are going to have three real currencies then the euro should be in place of sterling.
Re:€ (euro) (Score:4, Insightful)
Would that be Greece, Spain, Ireland or Portugal you're talking about?
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That's assuming that local businesses do not take the alternative currency. Canadian businesses typically do take US currency near the border.
Yeah, but Canadian businesses also have historically taken US currency at a 1:1 exchange for Canadian dollars. Now over the past few years with USD and CAD at close to parity, this is not a bad deal, but when CAD was significantly lower as was the case throughout most of past 30 years, you'd be way better off exchanging your USD.
Swiss Francs baby (Score:5, Insightful)
Probably the world's most stable and strong currency.
Re:Swiss Francs baby (Score:5, Funny)
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I'd prefer Euros. Stable and very strong compared to the Pound and USD. Widely accepted so you don't loose out through conversion fees.
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Re:Swiss Francs baby (Score:5, Informative)
I guess The Economist (who incidentally are very reputable) is also bullshit then:
http://www.economist.com/node/17577107 [economist.com]
"Recently the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, suggested that, if the euro did not survive, neither would the EU. This week Mrs Merkel said the euro was in an “exceptionally serious” situation. Mr Schäuble added that “our common currency is at stake.” That may be true, but it hardly inspires confidence"
http://www.economist.com/node/17629661 [economist.com]
"Financial history is littered with events that turned from the unthinkable to the inevitable with breathtaking speed: Britain left the gold standard in 1931, Argentina abandoned its dollar peg in January 2002. But a collapse of the euro would bring with it unprecedented technical, economic and political costs (see article).
A break-up might happen in one of two ways. One or more weak members (Greece, Ireland, Portugal, perhaps Spain) might leave, presumably to devalue their new currency. Or a fed-up Germany, possibly joined by the Netherlands and Austria, could decide to junk the euro and restore the D-mark, which would then appreciate."
"Breaking up the euro is not unthinkable, just very costly. Because they refuse to face up to the possibility that it might happen, Europe’s leaders are failing to take the measures necessary to avert it"
http://www.economist.com/node/17902709 [economist.com] (Jan 13, 2011)
The euro area’s bail-out strategy is not working
"This mess leads to a depressing conclusion: Europe’s bail-out strategy, designed to calm financial markets and place a firewall between the euro zone’s periphery and its centre, is failing. Investors are becoming more, not less, nervous, and the crisis is spreading"
I guess economists like Nouriel Roubini, who predicted almost the entire playing out of the financial crisis with high accuracy, are also speaking bullshit when they consider it a serious possibility: http://nourielroubiniblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/urope-needs-growth-to-prevent.html [blogspot.com] (Jan 12 2011)
"Europe needs growth to prevent a disorderly collapse of the euro area."
Anyone who follows economics knows that both the Euro and Dollar are on a downhill slide, and that both the US and Europe are in very similar boats.
This is not "Euro-bashing" or "Dollar-bashing". It's just plain simple math and economics. Deficit spending all over Europe and in the US have been at unsustainable levels. At some point you literally just run out of people who are willing to lend money to these governments because it becomes clearer that they simply won't be able to pay it back. Bond markets get nervous, interest rates rise, interest payments rise, and you have a problem. Governments will inevitably (and the US has already been doing this) print new Euros and Dollars in order to 'default by stealth', i.e. by lowering the value of their currencies, as well as pay back via the indirect tax called inflation (as printing money causes inflation).
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Re:Swiss Francs baby (Score:4, Insightful)
Perhaps you regard Bloomberg and Businessweek as bullshit and unreliable too?
Euro Volatility Signals Weakness as Confidence Falls [businessweek.com] (Jun 2010) "The biggest currency fluctuations since the aftermath of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. are signaling waning confidence in the economic recovery and prospects for a rebound in the euro. The euro’s 15 percent plunge against the dollar this year sparked a 6 percent loss for bets tied to foreign-exchange price volatility, according to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc indexes. That’s the worst performance among four currency strategies tracked by RBS" ... “The sources of concern won’t go away anytime soon” ... "One-month implied volatility for the euro versus the dollar rose to 18.6 percent on May 21, the highest level in 14 months. It also exceeds the 11.4 percent average in the past year. The measure will average closer to 15 percent in the future"
Perhaps Reuters is bullshit too: volatility in the euro market [reuters.com]
Check the 1-year graph on the EuroCurrency Volatility Index [cboe.com] (which, incidentally, is even not showing the full picture as this is dollar-tracked, while both USD and EUR are falling together relative to other currencies.)
And the volatility and crisis are far from over, they're still unwinding.
Seriously, Euro-zone volatility and currency weakness have been one of the biggest things in global news for going on a year, I can't begin to imagine how anyone could miss it unless they literally never read the news.
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Imperial Credits... (Score:2)
...accepted where Visa and MasterCard isn't.
Re:Imperial Credits... (Score:5, Funny)
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Visa?! Visa went out of business 200 years ago.
MasterCard hasn't been in business for 400 years.
Re:Imperial Credits... (Score:5, Funny)
Visa?! Visa went out of business 200 years ago.
MasterCard hasn't been in business for 400 years.
Fry: How about Discover?
Clerk: Ooooohh, we don't take Discover.
Sandwiches (Score:5, Funny)
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Australian dollars (Score:4, Insightful)
Australian dollars for me, thank you.
Not gold... (Score:2)
I want to be paid in barrels of oil. Unlike gold, it's a diminishing commodity with much utility. And when OPEC "diversifies" its currency medium, it will become de facto world currency.
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Not all that practical though. It needs to be refined before it is useful as petrol, plastic or whatever. The only people with refineries are not really interested in anything less than 1m barrels/day. You would find it hard to exchange for food/clothing/mortgage etc.
BitCoin! (Score:5, Insightful)
Where is BitCoin? This is slashdot after all.
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I think most of us prefer our paychecks to be worth something, which rules out that option
Bitcoins have rapidly increased in value. If you had been paid in bitcoins six months ago, they would be worth four times as much now.
To see the price chart, click on "All Time" at this URL: https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmtgox.com%2Ftrade%2Fhistory [mtgox.com]
In 1970 dollars, please. (Score:2)
Ningi (Score:3)
Ningi please. In cash.
Anyway, where in the civilised world have checks been used for wages in the last twenty years? They normally pay direct to your bank.
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How do you trade them in for one pu?
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How do you trade them in for one pu?
The problem there is finding a big enough planet to store your pu on.
EURO or gold-pressed Latinum (Score:2)
Of course gold-pressed latinum would always be welcome so I can save for the future.
local..? (Score:2)
I'll take it in local currency wherever I happen to be, thank you, and at the moment that means yen.
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What if you were in a country with run away inflation (such as Zimbabwe)? Or a country that did not permit the export of it's currency (I know they exist, I just can't think of one just now)?
Aha, well, I guess I'll have to make sure I don't happen to be in one of those countries. I bet for any you can think of, I really rather wouldn't want to be there anyway, for numerous reasons beyond cash inconveniences.
Besides I should change my answer a bit: I want it in whatever is the currency of the place where I expect to spend most of it. I can't predict shit about what's going to happen with the the reginal economy in various places; but I can predict very well how much I'll loose to greedy banks et
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AUD (Score:2)
Aussie dollars please. Because you leave them in the washing machine and still be able to spend them later.
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Aussie dollars please. Because you leave them in the washing machine and still be able to spend them later.
That must be most convenient for residents of Brisbane at the moment.
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Aussie dollars please. Because you leave them in the washing machine and still be able to spend them later.
That must be most convenient for residents of Brisbane at the moment.
Yeah just dip them in fresh water if you can find any and hang them on the hills hoist to drip dry.
Beer tokens (Score:5, Funny)
Missing option (Score:2)
Whishes (Score:2)
Missing option: Land grants (Score:2)
Since the United States is looking increasingly feudal, why not take it to the logical conclusion?
Zorkmids (Score:4, Interesting)
In Frobs we trust.
Nuka-Cola Caps! (Score:5, Funny)
Or Guns and Ammo.
Alternatively you can also pay me in fist bumps and good Karma.
Bison Dollars! (Score:4, Funny)
Bison Dollars! [cosplayisland.co.uk] Each one is worth £5.
Caps please (Score:3)
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I would suggest that things that actually have a practical value (food or oil for example) are a better store of value.
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Gold has no practical value. The only reason some people are willing to spend money on it is because they like shiny things. I would suggest that things that actually have a practical value (food or oil for example) are a better store of value.
oh come on! It's not as good electrical conductor as copper or silver, but it has its value! Not to mention that it works well as a reflector for electromagnetic radiation!
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Not to mention that it works well as a reflector for electromagnetic radiation!
When we run out of tinfoil for our hats, the man with all the gold will be king.
5000 years (Score:2, Insightful)
I would suggest that things that actually have a practical value (food or oil for example) are a better store of value.
Five thousand years of history prove you wrong.
Gold has one very practical value in that it has a peculiar color and is corrosion resistant. That, added to the fact that it's relatively but not too much scarce, is what made it the currency of choice for all recorded history.
Don't let the few past decades, when politicians have used inflation so heavily to fund their follies, deceive you. Inflation has existed before, but in the end it all comes back to gold as a measure of value.
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Gold has no practical value. The only reason some people are willing to spend money on it is because they like shiny things. I would suggest that things that actually have a practical value (food or oil for example) are a better store of value.
Gold is very practical. What makes it so valueable is the fact that it has uses in many situations and across different cultures. In a society interested in manufacture, gold can be made into a very thin conductor that doesn't corrode. Practically all societies adorn themselves or their possesions with jewelry, and gold is shiny and able to be easily crafted which makes it well suited to that. Gold does not corrode and can be melted to remove impurities and reformed into new uses when the old form goes out
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Here, 3 trillion Zimbabwean dollars.
Is that in 2011-01-21T21:23 dollars or 2011-01-21T22:24 dollars?
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I'm paid in Swedish Kronor (SEK) but wouldn't mind being paid in euros either.
Or, as others have stated, gold-plated latinum...
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What does that make the USD then? Considering the AUD is now worth the same/slightly more than it?
You'd be nuts to prefer USD over AUD at the moment. If nothing else, look at standard savings account interest rates in the US cf. Australia. You can shove AUD into a normal everyday bank account and earn 6% p.a. no risk. More if you put it into a CD/term deposit. Try that in USD.