Finance & economics | How to make money

Which country’s genius deserves the €200 note?

Europe prepares for a fight

Wallets with euro banknotes printed on them sold in the streets kiosks in Athens
Image: Maro Kouri/Polaris/Eyevine

Money can look like just about anything. In ancient China, bronze knives circulated as a means of payment; during the Depression, Californians used clamshells instead of cash; in 1970 Irish shoppers were forced, by a banking strike, to make do with ious written on toilet paper. As Hyman Minsky, an economist, put it: “Anyone can create money; the problem is getting it accepted.”

This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Making money”

From the September 2nd 2023 edition

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