The value of a $20 bill may seem as arbitrary as Monopoly money when reduced to a simple slip of paper. Nevertheless, even children understand the imprudence of tearing it into pieces. Charles Wheelan, in the third installment of his popular Naked series, uses this seemingly straightforward question to delve into the intriguing realm of money and banking.
In pursuit of an answer, numerous other questions arise: Why does paper money, often referred to as “fiat currency,” exist? What leads certain nations, like Zimbabwe in the 1990s, to print such excessive amounts that the currency becomes more valuable as toilet paper than as a medium of exchange? How do central banks leverage the power of money creation to mitigate financial crises? What prompts most European countries to adopt a common currency, and why does this arrangement pose challenges? Will emerging technologies such as payment apps and bitcoin render these issues obsolete?
Naked Money addresses these questions and more, providing insights into the ideal functioning of banking and monetary systems and unveiling the real-world repercussions of inflation, deflation, illiquidity, and other monetary phenomena. Wheelan’s distinctive, lively style injects humor and clarity into a subject often characterized by its lack of both. With engaging anecdotes from Argentina, Zimbabwe, North Korea, America, China, and beyond, Wheelan demystifies the intriguing world that lurks behind the paper currency in our wallets and the digital numbers in our bank accounts.
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See also
- Software Exorcism: A Handbook for Debugging and Optimizing Legacy Code by Bill Blunden (2003)
- Hormones and the Endocrine System: Textbook of Endocrinology by Bernhard Kleine (2016)
- Genetics: A Conceptual Approach 6e by Benjamin A. Pierce (2017)
- A Functional Approach to Java by Ben Weidig (2022)
- Calculus of variations and optimal control by Amol Sasan (2005)