Your Money Here's How It Works

"If you had gone to the same schools and listened to the same teachers as I had, they would have told you: "Money is not wealth. It is just a medium of exchange." That was a definition for people who already knew what money was, so it never told me anything. Money indeed is not wealth, as we can prove by the following example: Suppose you were shipwrecked on the well known deserted island. All you managed to save from the wreck was a trunkful of money - jingling money and folding money. Just scads of it! But absolutely nothing else. Now the first thing you want on that island is a drink of fresh water. But there isn't any water. You want some food. The island is bare. You want something to shield you from the hot sun of the day; some clothes or shelter to keep you from freezing at night. These are the basic economic necessities of life. They do not exist on the island. All you have is plenty of money. What good is it?" 

Good Reading Rack Service, 1960