Some Facts about Money

[robbo203]

This turned up in my newsfeed….

 

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/moneyphotos/29-surprising-facts-about-the-worlds-money/ss-AAm7To0?ocid=spartandhp#image=18

Some interesting facts about money….

Like:

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Most banknotes contain traces of cocaine   –

 tells us some about the ciculation of money

Global debt is now almost 2.5 times greater than the world's total stockpiles of money  –

Total debt – the amount owed by every individual, organization and country on the planet – hit $199 trillion (£158trn) in 2016, but the world has only $80.9 trillion (£64.2trn) in cash and bank deposits

Only 8% of the world's currency is in cash –

The vast majority of the planet's currency exists in electronic form – banknotes and coins make up just 8% of the global total.

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Any thoughts on these – particularly on their relevance to Marxian economics?

 

 

[ALB]

The total amount of "money" in existence doesn't have to equal the total amount of debts to be settled any more than it has to equal the total amount of prices to be realised — because, of course, money circulates. So this is not necessarily a problem.But there is another aspect: how is "total debt" is calculated? There could be(and probably is) a lot of double and more counting going on, as this commenter has pointed out:

Quote:

Are we sure that debt numbers are not double/triple/quadruple counted?  It seems that the more intermediaries, the more debt (which can still be a problem) which can create a problem nonetheless but a different sort of problem (counterparty risk).  What I mean is that if A lends to B at 3% then B lends to C at 5% then C lends to D at 7% and D lends on to E at 9%, is that counted as 4 units of debt when in actuality only one unit must be serviced?  

[Dave B]

I think there is a problem with how debt might be calculated. If a business is entirely owned by its share holders then it is not in debt? If ‘it’ borrows money from banks (in bonds), originating perhaps from central bank QE, for share purchases then is it in debt? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_repurchase  eg http://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-buybacks-cannibalized/  Or merely transfer of ownership to the central banks? Wage slave debt is a different issue and a bit like debt peonage that Karl briefly mentioned in volume one https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_bondage  or even more like the hiring out system of the ‘real’ slave system? The practice of "hiring out" was one feature of urban slavery that gave the enslaved a route to independence in their daily lives. Through this process, slave owners rented slaves to others. Enslaved people could, by arrangement with their owners, also hire themselves out. They then resided in or near the renter, who was officially, if not in practice, required to refrain from mistreating his leased property. Money earned from hiring out went into the owners' pockets, but oftentimes the laborer got to keep some himself. In this way, a slave might save enough not only to live on his own, but also to buy his freedom. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/slavery/experience/living/history.html

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