Defying the Prophet: A Military Space Opera (The Sentience Trilogy Book 2) by Gibson Michaels
Authors: Gibson Michaels
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decimated the Alliance, as in truth, they truly knew nothing about that part of the attack on Nork. That part of it was known only partially by Fleet Admiral Kalis, and only fully by Hal and Diet — Hal much more so than Diet.
All human space was frothing in economic and political chaos. International tensions soared. No one knew exactly what they should be doing about the situation, so they bided their time and tried to calm their respective publics while awaiting whatever further developments the future might bring…
…that and building weapons. The only consistent response to the crisis was that virtually every government in human space suddenly began a massive arms buildup, just in case.
* * * *
The Planetoid Discol, City of Waston
October, 3862
“So where did all of that money actually go, Hal?
It really didn’t “go” anywhere, Diet. Except for Sextus and now the Confederacy, real “money” hasn’t existed in thousands of years.
“So, what do you call these pieces of paper in my billfold, if not money?”
They are Federal Reserve Notes, Diet, each having an intrinsic value of… well… nothing. It’s amazing how little most people understand about what “money” really is.
“Okay, what is ‘money’, then?”
“Money” is defined as a medium of exchange — something that can be exchanged for goods and services and is used as a measure of their values on the open market. Even gold and commodities such as other precious metals and rare jewels are only worth what people are willing to exchange for them, but gold has held an intrinsic value all its own among human societies for untold thousands of years, so it remains the de facto measuring stick by which the actual value of all currencies are determined on an a daily basis.
Officially issued gold coinage and exchange notes are what’s known as “hard currency,” as they hold not only their face value, but also an intrinsic value based on the value of the weight of the gold that they are made out of, or can be exchanged for — as opposed to “soft currency” issued by most human governments.
“What do you mean by ‘soft currency,’ Hal?”
Governments tend to restrict the definition of money to meaning “legal tender,” or what the government has defined as the recognized medium of exchange within its borders. This “legal tender” is generally an officially issued coin or note, such as those you have in your billfold. Except for Sextus and the Confederacy, all other human governments, including the Alliance, back their money with nothing tangible, other than the “faith and credit” that people give to that government and the otherwise worthless “legal tender” that it issues. Currencies constantly fluctuate in value in respect to one another on the foreign exchange market, but Sextus and Confederate currencies that are both backed by gold remain traditionally high, relative to all of the soft currencies.
Within the Alliance, most of the actual bills and coins are stored in various Federal Reserve Depositories distributed throughout the Alliance planets, to meet the needs of local banks in conducting daily business. The Federal Reserve takes in physical currency from banks and credits an existing account, within that Federal Reserve Bank.
Most often, though, money exists in a radically different form — computer data such as deposits in a bank account, or other readily liquefiable account. The amount of money existing in physical form is actually dwarfed by that existing only as computer data. This saves the both the government and major corporations the time and expense of physically moving coins and bills from place to place.
A Federal Reserve Note is actually a form of promissory note, for which the Federal Government promises to pay the bearer, on demand, so many Alliance dollars in exchange. No one seems to notice the irony in that the government intentionally neglects to define any other medium
All human space was frothing in economic and political chaos. International tensions soared. No one knew exactly what they should be doing about the situation, so they bided their time and tried to calm their respective publics while awaiting whatever further developments the future might bring…
…that and building weapons. The only consistent response to the crisis was that virtually every government in human space suddenly began a massive arms buildup, just in case.
* * * *
The Planetoid Discol, City of Waston
October, 3862
“So where did all of that money actually go, Hal?
It really didn’t “go” anywhere, Diet. Except for Sextus and now the Confederacy, real “money” hasn’t existed in thousands of years.
“So, what do you call these pieces of paper in my billfold, if not money?”
They are Federal Reserve Notes, Diet, each having an intrinsic value of… well… nothing. It’s amazing how little most people understand about what “money” really is.
“Okay, what is ‘money’, then?”
“Money” is defined as a medium of exchange — something that can be exchanged for goods and services and is used as a measure of their values on the open market. Even gold and commodities such as other precious metals and rare jewels are only worth what people are willing to exchange for them, but gold has held an intrinsic value all its own among human societies for untold thousands of years, so it remains the de facto measuring stick by which the actual value of all currencies are determined on an a daily basis.
Officially issued gold coinage and exchange notes are what’s known as “hard currency,” as they hold not only their face value, but also an intrinsic value based on the value of the weight of the gold that they are made out of, or can be exchanged for — as opposed to “soft currency” issued by most human governments.
“What do you mean by ‘soft currency,’ Hal?”
Governments tend to restrict the definition of money to meaning “legal tender,” or what the government has defined as the recognized medium of exchange within its borders. This “legal tender” is generally an officially issued coin or note, such as those you have in your billfold. Except for Sextus and the Confederacy, all other human governments, including the Alliance, back their money with nothing tangible, other than the “faith and credit” that people give to that government and the otherwise worthless “legal tender” that it issues. Currencies constantly fluctuate in value in respect to one another on the foreign exchange market, but Sextus and Confederate currencies that are both backed by gold remain traditionally high, relative to all of the soft currencies.
Within the Alliance, most of the actual bills and coins are stored in various Federal Reserve Depositories distributed throughout the Alliance planets, to meet the needs of local banks in conducting daily business. The Federal Reserve takes in physical currency from banks and credits an existing account, within that Federal Reserve Bank.
Most often, though, money exists in a radically different form — computer data such as deposits in a bank account, or other readily liquefiable account. The amount of money existing in physical form is actually dwarfed by that existing only as computer data. This saves the both the government and major corporations the time and expense of physically moving coins and bills from place to place.
A Federal Reserve Note is actually a form of promissory note, for which the Federal Government promises to pay the bearer, on demand, so many Alliance dollars in exchange. No one seems to notice the irony in that the government intentionally neglects to define any other medium
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