In the above quote Alison Hingston Quiggin is much too optimistic about the general understanding of money. A more apt quote would be ‘not even an economist understands what money means’.

Take a moment to think about the word ‘money’. Try to bring an image of money into your mind. Describe that image in the space below before reading further.

Did you envisage a pile of banknotes or a handful of loose change? Did you think of bank vaults full of shiny coins and gold bars? Was the image of your plastic card or your bank account, or money that you owe or don’t have? It is not likely that you thought of a notched stick, a string of shells or a tobacco leaf, but these have all been seen as money. Money is one of the most slippery concepts to grasp. It is difficult to define, describe and explain. This is why it seems like magic, a thing of illusion and trickery, mystery and enigma.

Thinking about money is not idle speculation. Money is central to modern life. Lack of access to money can have dire consequences. Earning money is the key focus of most people’s lives. Money determines life choices. It dominates political and commercial debate: what is the bottom line? Can these public services be afforded? Despite its importance money retains its mystery. Where does it come from? How does it function?

Conceptions of money influence social and public policy. When challenged that prolonged austerity had forced nurses to rely on food banks, the British prime minister, Theresa May, replied that she could not help because there was no magic money tree. So where does money come from? What determines how much money there is and the form it takes? What makes money, money? How is it owned and controlled, or does it exist in some independent dimension of its own?

The book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, captured in the much loved film The Wizard of Oz, was written by Frank Baum in 1900 as a parody of the money system. The wizard was believed to be all powerful but behind the curtain it was just a showman pulling strings. In exploring money it is not easy to pull back the curtain.