money

Money

Currency and coin that are guaranteed as legal tender by the government, a regulatory agency or bank.

Money

A commodity, asset, or (most commonly) currency that may be exchanged for goods and services. Usually, the domestic government issues its own money and provides penalties to persons and businesses in its jurisdiction that do not accept it. Money and the money supply are integral to determining interest rates, inflation, and especially economic growth. There is no uniform agreement as to what qualifies as money; some economists include more mediums of exchange than other economists. Every society throughout history has used some sort of money, even bartering economies traded for something perceived to be equivalent. See also: Money supply, Liquidity.

money

A generally accepted medium for the exchange of goods and services, for measuring value, or for making payments. Many economists consider the amount of money and growth in the amount of money in an economy very influential in determining interest rates, inflation, and the level of economic activity. There is some disagreement among economists as to what types of things actually should be classified as money; for example, should balances in money market funds be included. See also money supply.

money

an asset which is generally acceptable as a means of payment in the sale and purchase of products and other assets and for concluding borrowing and lending transactions. The use of money enables products and assets to be priced in terms of the monetary units of the country (pence and pounds in the UK, for example), and to be exchanged using money as a common medium of exchange rather than the bartering of one product against another. Money also acts as a store of value (money can be held over a period of time and used to finance future payments) and as a unit of account (money is used to measure and record the value of products and assets, as for example in compiling the country's NATIONAL INCOME accounts). See MONEY SUPPLY, MONETARY POLICY.

money

an ASSET that is generally acceptable as a medium of exchange. Individual goods and services, and other physical assests, are ‘priced’ in terms of money and are exchanged using money as a common denominator rather than one GOOD, etc., being exchanged for another (as in BARTER). The use of money as a means of payment enables an economy to produce more output because it facilitates SPECIALIZATION in production and reduces the time spent by sellers and buyers in arranging exchanges. Other important functions of money are its use as a store of value or purchasing power (money can be held over a period of time and used to finance future payments), a standard of deferred payment (money is used as an agreed measure of future receipts and payments in contracts) and as a unit of account (money is used to measure and record the value of goods or services, e.g. GROSS NATIONAL PRODUCT, over time). See LEGAL TENDER.