Money is about expected future value....nothing more, nothing less

[Marcel Popescu]

From: "Tim May" <tcmay at got.net>

> Nearly all forms of money are more like IOUs than any other single
> description.

Right.

> With British money it is the Bank of England (so I hear,
> but maybe it has changed to some sort of U.K. reference) that says
> "Anyone who presents this IOU for 10 pounds will be given either
> another IOU for the same amount or will be, sometimes, given gold or
> silver."

Wrong. I can do this - I can write IOUs "redeemable" in other IOUs or,
"sometimes", in gold or silver.

The reason the IOUs emitted by the Bank of England were *initially* accepted
was that they were redeemable in gold or silver. *One* reason they are now
accepted is that they are legal tender - you can pay your taxes with them,
and companies are forbidden from accepting them as payment.

Mark