The Theory Of Money And Credit (Ludwig Von Mises)

The Theory Of Money And Credit (Ludwig Von Mises)
- Highlight Loc. 914-19  | Added on Sunday, October 23, 2011, 06:26 AM

It is considerations such as these that have led the present writer to give the name of money-substitutes and not that of money to those objects that are employed like money in commerce but consist in perfectly secure and immediately convertible claims to money. Claims are not goods;1 they are means of obtaining disposal over goods. This determines their whole nature and economic significance. They themselves are not valued directly, but indirectly; their value is derived from that of the economic goods to which they refer. Two elements are involved in the valuation of a claim: first, the value of the goods to whose possession it gives a right; and, second, the greater or less probability that possession of the goods in question will actually be obtained.