Abolish The Fed, But Keep the Money

I have met some very interesting people through Facebook and email since starting this blog.  Apparently, I have also triggered the fascination of a guy obsessed with whores who may be taking our name a little bit too literally.  If you are that guy, let me reiterate:  WE DO NOT HAVE SEX FOR MONEY.  As I told you, we have networked with people we can't stand for money and we accepted money for our tiny role in the destruction of the economy, but neither one of us wants to sleep with you for any amount of money. 

I received an email from someone who appreciates my hatred of the Federal Reserve and felt that our shared desire to see the Fed shutdown inferred that I also shared their hatred for money and wanted that abolished too.  Umm, no I don't.  While I appreciate your desire to make the world a better place and I completely understand your righteous indignation with the banking system, I have to completely disagree with the notion of getting rid of money.  Please hear me out....

Our currency has no intrinsic value, it is just paper and crappy metals.  BUT, it reduces transaction costs and facilitates exchange, which is pretty damned important.  Money has allowed commerce to grow and has made people better off by allowing them to exchange with different people relatively painlessly, in turn, allowing people to have necessities as well as luxuries that they otherwise wouldn't have access to.

Imagine if there was no money and we traded in commodities.  We would be forced to specialize in our own "currency", perhaps I would raise goats and chickens to trade for other goods I might need.  In terms of portability, goats and chickens would make lousy currency and would require a much bigger purse than I care to tote around.  Secondly, they stink.  I highly doubt people would enjoy sitting by me at Wrigley Field if I had to bring goats and chickens to buy beer, not to mention, people at Wrigley hate goats.  Just sayin.

In the spirit of beer I offer my third and most important defense of money.  Imagine my community has a few bars and I want to go get a beer.  I load up a few goats and chickens in my horse pulled cart and head off to the bar.  Upon entry, the bartender looks at me and tells me he can't serve me.  I argue that I'm completely sober and he replies, "No, its not that.  Another goat farmer was just here and I finally had to cut him off because I don't need anymore goats."  I might offer my chickens only to find he is stocked up on those to.  He might tell me what he really needs is some wool.  Now I have to go off in search of a sheep herder who needs chickens and goats in the hopes we can trade so I can go back to the bar with wool.  I have the added worry that in the time it takes me to track down someone to trade with, another thirsty bastard will show up to the bar with wool, drink my beer and max out the bartenders demand for wool.  Complicated?  To borrow a line from Mrs. Palin, you betcha. Even worse, I might not ever get that beer. 

Money isn't what is wrong with the world.  I'm sure that is hard for some people to swallow in the economic disaster we find ourselves in.  You can be angry at fraud and corruption but you can't blame money for it.  You might argue that it is the love of money that creates fraud and corruption but I don't buy that either.  Money doesn't make people behave like assholes...people choose to behave like assholes.  Get a bunch of assholes together and you can form a government or a corporation and really do some damage.

I like money and I like beer, and frankly, making change with goats seems awfully messy.