Money
Money is any token or other object that functions
as a medium of exchange that is socially and legally
accepted in payment for goods and services and in
settlement of debts. Money also serves as a standard of
value for measuring the relative worth of different goods
and services and as a store of value. Some
authors explicitly require money to be a standard
of deferred payment.
Money is central to the study of economics and
forms its most cogent link to finance.
The absence
of money causes an economy to be
inefficient because it requires a coincidence of wants
between traders, and an agreement that
these needs are of equal value, before a
barter exchange can occur. The efficiency
gains through the use of money are thought
to encourage trade and the division
of labour, in turn increasing productivity
and wealth.
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