About
This is an improved version of something I wrote in January 2020 while enrolled in the Chinese-taught Master’s degree in Economics at Renmin University of China. I submitted it as the final paper for the Economics of Money and Finance course ( 货币金融学) taught by professor 黄燕芬, but it was based on a previous paper I wrote in Chinese for professor 李黎力 in June 2019.
Introduction
The purpose of this article is to show how information theory can be applied to monetary theory, describe how the components of monetary systems are analogous to those of information systems, and provide a definition…
I love word games. Jokes, double entendre and even coquetry leverage the power of synonyms, antonyms and syllogisms to arouse specific thoughts and ideas in the minds of an audience. Human intelligence is probably more related to our ability to play with speech than to speech itself, so it would not be surprising that artificial intelligence ends up being predominantly defined as software capable of playing with words as humans do.
However, word games can also be used to create ambivalence and confusion around a topic or fact, so that disguising truths without lying or deceiving people into mixing definitions…
We buy things all the time, but we seldom pay for them actually. Instead, we give pieces of paper or transfer digital numbers, which are not really worth the same as the things we exchange them for. Then, what is it that we are actually doing when we give cash or transfer funds to a person or merchant? We are making a promise, a promise to pay.
Money is not a means of payment, but a promise to pay.
Most money these days is an IOU (I Owe You), a promise to pay [1]. When you “pay” someone you are…
