Olivia Barr, Chapter 10, Question 7

After reading this chapter I have gained a better understating of the dollar. On the surface, the dollar seems to have a specific value, and it is something that is used to compensate someone for the value of the item you are purchasing. In reality, the dollar has no intrinsic value. I was a little shocked in the book when it said that a can of mackerel is better than a dollar because if the market fails, you can eat mackerel but the paper and linen in a dollar bill have no nutritional value, or any value if there are not other people who want dollars. My dad often says that "that shirt is paid for by my sweat" and I never really put any value to that statement, however this chapter has given me a new understanding of it; people pay him in dollars (of now intrinsic worth) for his work because paying him in mackerel would make it very difficult to purchase clothing from Nordstrom because they don't have any need for mackerel. Now I will think of money less as a piece of paper with a set value, but something that is earned through hard work and allows people to get exactly the goods and services that they desire without having to go through hoops of bargaining with various goods that have their own intrinsic value.