Part 1: A brief summary about the origins of money

Why has money been present in mankind’s history for so many millennia? Different cultures in different places and periods of time have used very different commodities as money, such as cocoa, salt, gold, shells, circular stone disks (or cigarettes). In fact, the concept of “money”, or “medium of exchange”, has always arisen spontaneously when the sprouts of civilization have taken root. Why? Let’s trace money back to the absolute beginning.

Part 2: The special nature of money, media of exchange, demand and supply and purchasing power

We have seen that money has historically been a commodity which, among other things, differed from other commodities in being demanded mainly as a medium of exchange, although it always had other uses. ¹ Economic goods are categorized in two different groups: Consumer goods and producer goods; the former satisfy human needs directly and the latter indirectly.