Author, The Happiest Man in the World: Life Lessons from a Cultural Economist
As we have discussed,
the only reason printed paper money has purchasing power today is because
people accept it as having value. You accept paper money in payment only
because you have confidence in the
fact that other people will accept your paper money when you wish to pay for
something.
It is not too difficult
to see how check writing came into practice. It, too, was based on convenience
and confidence. The practice of check writing was somewhat of a throwback to
the old idea of signing over to someone else the receipt that the goldsmith had
issued when you gave him your precious metal to hold in his vault for “safe
keeping.”
The explicit
instruction on that paper check allowed a depositor to tell the holder of the
value to transfer the funds from the depositor’s account to the account of another
to whom the payment needed to be made. As long as the intended recipient of the
funds was convinced he would actually end up with the funds, he would accept
the written check as payment.
The plastic credit card
was a phenomenon of my lifetime. In the beginning it was not really seen as
money, because the credit card required another form of money, either cash or
check, to pay off the monthly charges. But the convenience of the plastic
credit and debit cards was so alluring and so addictive that the requirements
for the factors of confidence were hardly given a second thought. More and more usage of the plastic credit
cards included the direct authorization of transfer of value from holder,
through the financial institution, and on to the merchant.
Over time, the tangible
aspect of money has come to be seen as a nuisance as well as a nescience. There
is so much tacit confidence and presumption in the emerging system of ethereal
money that to me it smacks of overwhelming incredulity. The full confidence is
placed not in something that is even remotely tangible and protectable, but in
the wishful thinking that envisions a failsafe system of convenience and
absolute confidence placed in a collection of numbers stored in a computer.
Cash has become a concept and not a tangible asset. That is a scary and very
vulnerable position for a culture.
Dr. James W. Jackson often describes himself as "The Happiest Man in the World." A successful businessman, award-winning author and humanitarian, Jackson is also a renowned Cultural Economist and international consultant, helping organizations and governments to apply sound economic principals to the transformation of culture so that everyone is "better off."As the founder of Project C.U.R.E., Dr. Jackson traveled to more than one hundred fifty countries assessing healthcare facilities, meeting with government leaders and "delivering health and hope" in the form of medical supplies and equipment to the world's most needy people. Literally thousands of people are alive today as a direct result of the tireless efforts of Project C.U.R.E.'s staff, volunteers and Dr. Jackson.
To contact Dr. Jackson, or to book him for an interview or speaking engagement: press@winstoncrown.com
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