This is a good presentation of the idea. However, I think there are a few important things missing from the discussion:
Divisibility of goods for barter. You mention it briefly, but this seems like a big reason to pick an arbitrary accounting unit that can be subdivided at will.
Portability. Theoretically, we could agree on grains of wheat as the accounting unit since they are sufficiently fine-grained(hah!) to avoid the divisibility problem. However, having to haul 100 tons of grain down to the auto dealer is pretty inconvenient.
Time-shifting. Again, you touch on this near the end, but one of the reasons that gold and/or silver have been used is that they don’t decay (and it’s not possible to print more of it). If I want to ensure I have access to a slice of cherry pie every day next year, I can’t exactly buy 45 pies today and put them in the cupboard. Being able to exchange my oranges today for silver and then the silver for a slice of pie next year is a win.
This is a good presentation of the idea. However, I think there are a few important things missing from the discussion:
Divisibility of goods for barter. You mention it briefly, but this seems like a big reason to pick an arbitrary accounting unit that can be subdivided at will.
Portability. Theoretically, we could agree on grains of wheat as the accounting unit since they are sufficiently fine-grained(hah!) to avoid the divisibility problem. However, having to haul 100 tons of grain down to the auto dealer is pretty inconvenient.
Time-shifting. Again, you touch on this near the end, but one of the reasons that gold and/or silver have been used is that they don’t decay (and it’s not possible to print more of it). If I want to ensure I have access to a slice of cherry pie every day next year, I can’t exactly buy 45 pies today and put them in the cupboard. Being able to exchange my oranges today for silver and then the silver for a slice of pie next year is a win.