Money, Money, Money

Hi! My name is Bryce Buck. And I am here today to talk to YOU about money and where money comes from!  Everyday people use money.  Money touches the hands of many people in one day alone! I have traveled many places and have seen the inside of lots of pockets and wallets.  Why is it that money is so popular? Everyone wants it, everyone works REALLY hard for it, and people think about it all the time.  It makes me feel pretty special though! Money is used to buy goods and services.  Goods are things that people can buy and purchase at a stores.  Services are when somebody pays a person for their time.  When a plumber comes to your home to fix the kitchen sink, this is an example of a service.

So where did money come from you ask? Well! This is quite the adventure.  Have you ever traded anything with your friends?  Maybe some baseball cards?  Or maybe you and your friend switched sandwiches at lunch! This is how money worked a long time ago.  People bartered or traded with one another when they needed  or wanted something.  However, in order for people to trade or barter, they needed to find something that the other person would find valuable.  If you really wanted Suzie's iPod, offering her your Snickers candy bar would be an example of an unfair trade.  The candy bar is most likely not going to be worth much to Suzie.  People stopped using this type of money because it got very confusing and difficult!

Take a look at this!  Let's pretend that you are a very famous carrot farmer.  You have acres and acres of carrots that are a beautiful orange and very tasty.  However, you would really like some chocolate.  In order to make this trade happen, you would need to search and search until you found someone that had chocolate AND wanted carrots.  This got to be quite exhausting for the people that were trading.

Because people got sick and tired of trading all the time, money started to change.  Some of the first people that lived in the United States used money that is different from the money we use today.  What makes money valuable is how badly people want it! When people first came to the United States, they wanted food and things to keep them warm.  At this time, people used dried corn and beaver pelts (or skins) for money. 

At one time, people even used gold for money! But that became very hard to find. 

Now what about me! How did we start using money that looks like me?  Today we have what we call bills or paper money.  We also have coins such as the penny, nickle, dime, and quarter. 

Our country is a very strong and powerful country! And that is just how money works! It all depends on how important money is to the people.  The United States sells lots and lots of goods to other countries.  Because we are so successful, our money and our economy is considered to be one of the strongest in the world!  However, if we were to have lots and lots of dollar bills made, money would lose some of it's value.  If President Obama announced tomorrow that every single student in our school was going to recieve 100 dollar bills, that $100 wouldn't seem like a lot of money anymore because EVERYONE got it.  Another example of this is if everyone was given the coolest, fastest, prettiest car ever made, then it wouldn't be the coolest car anymore because EVERYONE had one.  Does this make sense?

Lastly, I bet you are wondering where I come from.  Or if money is printed off, where does this happen?  Well, money is made and printed at a place called the Central Bank.  Here, they decide how much money is in circulation or going around from person to person within the United States.  If the Central Bank thinsk we need more money, they print it. 

Well, don't forget me! I'm Bryce Buck and I hope you learned something new today about the money that you and your parents use each and everyday! It's with money that we are able to buy the things that we need and want.  It's important to save your money and be smart with it! You are basically an expert now! Keep up the good work!