ECONOMISTS VS. ETHNOLOGISTS ON THE ORIGIN OF MONEY

Larry Lee writes:

How an ancient stone money system works like cryptocurrency
At least several hundred years ago, islanders on Yap in western Micronesia used principles at the heart of cryptocurrencies to conduct business, says archaeologist Scott Fitzpatrick of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

Ownership of a disk could be transferred, for instance, as a wedding gift, to secure political allies or in exchange for food from residents of nearby islands after a severe storm. These deals also occurred in front of the whole community. No matter who acquired a rai, it stayed in its original location.

Bitcoin and blockchain work in much the same way, Fitzpatrick says. Bitcoin “miners” solve complex mathematical puzzles to release units of currency. Those units are transported and securely stored across the public blockchain ledger. Full transaction histories for each bitcoin are available to all network participants. Bitcoins can be exchanged for goods or services or given away at any time by participants in the digital system.

To read the complete article, see:
How an ancient stone money system works like cryptocurrency (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/yap-stone-money-bitcoin-blockchain-cryptocurrency?tgt=nr)

Conflict reigns over the history and origins of money
Economists have held one view of money’s origins for hundreds of years. But a growing number of anthropologists and archaeologists, holding a revisionist view, say that economists’ standard story is bankrupt.

Economists and revisionists alike agree that an object defined as money works in four ways: First, it serves as a means for exchanging goods and services. Currency enables payment of debts. It represents a general measure of value, making it possible to calculate prices of all sorts of items. And, finally, money can be stored as a wealth reserve.

From there, the two groups split. Mainstream economists assume that bartering of goods and services inspired money’s invention. Anthropologists and archaeologists contend that early states invented currency as a means of debt payment.

To read the complete article, see:
Conflict reigns over the history and origins of money (https://www.sciencenews.org/article/money-ancient-origins-debate-mystery?tgt=nr)

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