Money is just information. But it’s important information. It tells us how much of a claim we have on other peoples’ stuff – their time, their resources, and their output
— Bill Bonner
“Products are bought with products,” not with money alone, said the great 19th-century French economist, Jean-Baptiste Say.
He was describing the real world… the win-win world. If you want something, you’ve got to give something in return. Which means you have to produce something to give – and not just a piece of paper with green ink on it.
This basic insight is at the heart of civilization (trading, sharing, cooperating… rather than stealing). And it is at the heart of progress and prosperity, too (the more you want, the more new and better products you have to come up with).