Storage means

Basicinformation

Currencyisageneralequivalent,whichcanbeexchangedwithallothercommodities,anditcanbestoredasgeneralsocialwealthbypeople.Asameansofstorage,currencycontinuestodevelopwiththedevelopmentofthecommodityeconomy.Intheearlystagesofthedevelopmentofthecommodityeconomy,producersonlyexchangedtheexcessofusevalueintocurrencyforpreservation,andstorageofgoldandsilverwasregardedasanexpressionofwealth.Withthedevelopmentofcommodityproduction,producersmuststoreaportionofcurrencyinordertobeabletoproducecontinuously.Withtheexpansionofthescopeofcommodityexchange,thegreaterthepowerofcurrency,theamountofcurrencythathasbecomeameasureofpeople'spowerandstatus,thestrongerpeople'sdesiretostorecurrency,andthelargerthescaleofcurrencystorage.

Basicinterpretation

Themeansofstorageisthefunctionofcurrencywithdrawingfromcirculationandbeingstoredasthedirectincarnationofsocialwealth.Marxcalleditthe"pause"ofmoney.

Friedmancalledita"temporaryresidenceofpurchasingpower."Asageneralequivalent,moneycanbuyanycommodity,soitbecomesthegeneralrepresentativeanddirectembodimentofsocialwealth,whicharousespeople'sdesiretostoreit.Thecurrencyusedasastoragemethodmustbeasolidmetalcurrencyofsufficientvaluetoensurethestabilityofthestoragevalue.Thisisalsoabasicprerequisiteforthecurrencytoperformthefunctionsofthestoragemethod.

Undertheconditionsoftoday’scommodityeconomy,inadditiontobeingtheabsoluteincarnationofsocialwealth,thefunctionofmoneystorageisfurtherdeepened.Ontheonehand,withthedevelopmentofcommodityproduction,thefunctionofmoneystoragehasbecomecommodityproduction.Itisanecessaryconditionforthesmoothprogressofitself.Ontheotherhand,currencyhasthefunctionofspontaneouslyregulatingcurrencycirculationwhenitperformsthefunctionsofstoragemeans.Itisareservoirthatmakestheamountofcurrencyincirculationflexible.

Reasons

Stableandcontinuousconsumption

Extendingthemarginalutilitytheoryineconomicsfromthespacedimensiontothetimedimension,wecanhavethisconclusion:Thesamewealthcanbeusedtoachievegreaterutilitybyarrangingfutureconsumptioninabalancedmanner.Togiveasimpleexample,ifapersonhastwoapples,ifheeatsbothapplesinaday,thenthemarginalutilityisdiminishingwhenheeatsthesecondapple,theutilityisgenerallynotasgoodasthefirstday.Eatoneandsavethesecondoneuntilthenextday.Thisisconsistentwiththeprincipleofincreasingutilitybetweentwopeoplethroughexchange.Togiveanothermoreextremeexample,ifapersoneatseightdaysofmealsaday,andthenaskshimnottoeatforsevenconsecutivedays,thetotalamountoffoodheconsumesisthesameasthenormalmeal,buttheeffectiscompletelydifferent.Itcanbeseenthatwithacertaintotalamount,stableandcontinuousconsumptionisbetterthanviolentlyfluctuatingconsumption.Theoptimalsolutionistoequalizetheutilityofthelastpartofthedailyconsumption.Thisistrueforindividualsaswellasforenterprises.Thenormaloperationofenterprisesrequirescontinuousexpenditures.Theinterruptionofcashflowmeansbusinesssuspensionorevenbankruptcy,andtheoveralloperatingefficiencyisgenerallystableexpenditureshigherthanunstableexpenditures.

Instabilityofincome

Ontheotherhand,theincomeofindividualsandbusinessesisoftenunstable.Oneperiodmayhavemoreincome,andanotherperiodmayhavelessincome.Inordertomaintainstableexpenditureswhenincomeisunstable,individualsandcompaniesneedtostorepartoftheirincomeforfutureexpenditureswhenincomeislarge.

Balanceofincomeandexpenditure

Thiskindofincomeexpenditurearrangementindifferentperiodsissimilartotheoptimalallocationofresourcesindifferentaspects,thedifferenceisthatwhenresourcesareindifferentaspectsatthesametimeWhenconfiguring,allaspectsofthesituationareclear,butwhenresourcesareconfiguredatdifferenttimeperiods,thefuturesituationisunclearandcanonlybecarriedoutbasedonforecasts.Generallyspeaking,thespeedofexpenditureshouldbecontrolledbeforethestoredwealthisenoughtomaintainthenextincome.Themoreuncertainthefutureincome,themoretheproportionofstorageneedstobeincreased.Inextremecases,ifpeopleforeseethatitwillbedifficulttoobtainincomeofthesamescaleinthefuture,theywillchoosetostorealltheirincomeanduseonlyinterest.Ofcourse,consideringthatpeople'slifespanislimitedandthefutureisnotcompletelyimpossibletoobtainthesameincome,sogenerallytheywillstillconsumeataslowerrate.

Accumulation

Anotherreasonforstoringwealthisforaccumulation.Peoplehavethisexperience.Sometimestheutilityofconsumingalargesumofmoneyisgreaterthanthesumoftheutilityofconsumingthesameamountofmoneyscattered,orthereturnofalargeinvestmentismorethanthatofthesameamount.Thebenefitsofthisinvestmentarelarge,whichcanbecalledtheprincipleofgeneralizedscaleeffect.Becauseofthescaleeffect,individualsorcompaniessometimeshavetoaccumulateincomeinordertoconcentrateconsumptionorinvestment.Suchaspersonalsavingstobuyahouseorforchildren'seducation,enterprisesaccumulatefundstoinvestinnewprojects,andsoon.Generally,thelargertheconsumptionorinvestmentproject,thelongertheaccumulationtimeandthegreatertheamountofstoredwealth.

Loss

Theremaybeacertainlossoftotalwealthinthestorageprocess,butduetotheincreaseinutilityandbenefitsthatcanbebroughtaboutbyoptimalallocationandscaleeffects,peoplearewillingtobearacertainloss.

Features

Currencycanbeusedasastoragemethod

Thestoragemethodshouldhavethreecharacteristics:First,itisnoteasytodamageanddeteriorateduringthepreservationprocess.Second,whenyouneedtouseit,youcaneasilyexchangeitwithothercommoditiesandconvertittotherequiredform.Third,itsvalueisstableandcanbeconvertedintootheritemsofthesamequantitybeforeandafterstorage.

Thetradingmediumistheeasiestcommoditytoexchangewithothercommodities,andnaturallysatisfiesthesecondcondition.Metalcurrencyalsohasthecharacteristicsofstoragedurability,andalsomeetsthefirstcondition.Papercurrencyisrelativelypoorinstoragedurability,butbankdepositscanhelpsolvethisproblem.Thetradingmediumcangenerallyalsomeetthevaluestabilityrequirements,becausetheexecutionofthetradingmediumfunctionitselfalsorequiresvaluestability.Therefore,currency,especiallymetalcurrency,canalsobeusedasameansofstorage.

Characteristicdifferencesbetweenthemediumoftransactionandthemeansofstorage

Currencycanperformbothfunctionsofthemediumoftransactionandmeansofstorage,butthisdoesnotmeanthatthetwofunctionsareessentiallythesameortwo.Whatisthecloserelationshipbetweenthetwo,butthecharacteristicsrequiredbythetwoarejustrelativelysimilar,andcarefulanalysisisalsodifferent.

1.Stabilityrequirementsaredifferent.

Firstofall,thecharacteristicsofthetransactionmediumandthestoragemethodarenotexactlythesame.Thestoragemethodneedstobemorestorageresistantandmorestablethanthetransactionmedium.Forexample,whenthereissevereinflation,iftheannualinflationratereaches10%to30%,thenthecurrencystoragefunctionisbasicallylost,butthetransactionmediumfunctioncanstillbepreserved.

2.Differentrequirements

Secondly,thetransactionmediumfunctionrequiresthetransactionmedium,otherwiseitwillcauseconfusioninthetransaction.Therefore,althoughmultiplecurrencieshavealwayscoexistedinthehistoryofcurrencydevelopment,therehasalwaysbeenageneraltrendofmultiplecurrenciesdevelopingtowardsasinglecurrency.Themostrecentexampleistheeuro.Notonlydoesthestoragemethodlackthisinherentsingularityrequirement,butonthecontrary,thereseemstobeadecentralizationrequirement.Intheprocessofsocialdevelopment,therearemoreandmoreformsofstorageofwealth,andcurrencyasastoragemethodbecomeslessandlessimportant.Thebiggestadvantageofcurrencyasameansofstorageisitsconvenience.Thestorageofwealthinotherformsmustbecashedinwhenitisneeded.Sometimesthismaybemoredifficult.However,otherstorageformsmayalsobemorestableorresistanttostorage,andhavetheirownadvantagesanddisadvantagescomparedwithcurrencies.

Ifyoustorewealthinotherforms(forexample,land,goldjewelry,artwork,etc.),youneedtobuyandthenstoreit,andsellitwhenyouneedtouseit.SellingandbuyinginthemiddlemakethestorageprocessclearDefineit.Thecurrencyasameansofstorageisnotsoclear.Thefunctionofthecurrencytransactionmediumdividestheexchangeofcommoditiesintotwoprocesses:sellingandbuying.Peopledonotdirectlyexchangecommoditiesforcommodities,butfirstsellcommoditiesforcurrency,andthenusecurrencytopurchasecommodities.Peopledonotnecessarilybuygoodsimmediatelyaftersellingthem,andtheycanholdmoneyinthemiddle.Generallyspeaking,ifthetimeofholdingmoneyinthemiddleisrelativelyshort,itcanbesaidthatitispartofthefunctionofthecurrencytransactionmedium.Ifthetimeisrelativelylong,itcanbeconsideredthatitisperformingthefunctionofstoragemeans.Howlongdoesittaketobeastoragemethod?Thetimeintervalbetweenthetwoincomescanbeusedasthestandard.Thecurrencyspentbetweenthetwoincomescanbeconsideredasperformingthefunctionofthetransactionmedium;thepartofthecurrencyheldformorethanthetwoincomeintervalisperformingthefunctionofthestoragemeansNS.

Currencystoragefunctionandeconomiccrisis

Finally,whenthestoragefunctionandthetransactionmediumfunctionareundertakenbymoneyatthesametime,itmayalsohaveanadverseeffectonthemacroeconomiccycle,whichisthecauseoftheeconomiccrisis.one.Thisrevealsthattherearestillinherentcontradictionsbetweenthetwofunctions.

Theproductionandconsumptionofcommoditiesconstituteacompletecycle.Fortheeconomytocontinueandoperatestably,productionandconsumptionmustbebalanced.Theso-calledbalancedoesnotrequirethatproductionandconsumptionareexactlyequalatalltimes,butthatthetotalproductionandtotalconsumptionwithinaperiodoftimeareequal.Thelengthoftheperioddependsonthenatureofthecommodity.Consideranextremesituation.Ifacommoditymustbeconsumedwithinonedayafteritisproduced,otherwiseitwilldeteriorateandnolongerhaveusevalue,thentheproductionandconsumptionofthiscommoditymustremainequaleveryday.Ifonedaytheproductionvolumeisgreaterthantheconsumptionvolume,itwillcausewaste,andifonedaytheproductionvolumeislessthantheconsumptionvolume,theconsumptionneedsofpeoplewillnotbemet.Theeffectiveuseperiodofordinarycommoditiesisrelativelylong,andproductionandconsumptiononlyneedtobebalancedforaperiodoftime.Forexample,thestorageperiodofgrainfromproductiontoconsumptionisgenerallylessthan5years.Therefore,thetotalgrainproducedandthetotalgrainconsumedin5yearsshouldberoughlyequal,otherwisehungerorwastemayoccur.

Classicaleconomicsdoesnotanalyzetheroleofmoneyindepth.Itsimplybelievesthatalthoughtheexchangeofgoodsiscarriedoutthroughthemediumofmoney,itisstilltheexchangeofgoodsinessence.Theconclusionofnaturalbalance.Thetheoryisthatthemoregoodsapersonproduces,thestrongerhisabilitytoexchangehisownproductsfortheproductsofothers,thatis,thestrongerthepurchasingpower.Fromtheperspectiveofthewholesociety,everyoneisbothaproducerandaconsumer.Productioncapacityandconsumptioncapacityarenaturallyequal,soproductionandconsumptionwillmaintainabalance.Ageneralstatementisthat"productioncancreateconsumption",whichiscalledSay'slawinclassicaleconomics.Say'sLawdemonstratesthebalanceoftotalsocialproductionandconsumption,whichisachievedthroughthebalanceofproductionandconsumptionofeachcommodity.Thebalanceofeachcommoditydependsonmarketadjustment,andtheadjustmentleveristheprice.Whentheproductionvolumeisgreaterthantheconsumptionvolume,thepricedecreases,whichstimulatestheincreaseintheconsumptionvolume;whentheproductionvolumeisinsufficient,thepriceincreasestorestraintheconsumptionvolumeandbalanceproductionandconsumption.Classicaleconomicsbelievesthatundertheconditionsofafreemarketeconomy,themarketwillautomaticallyfindapricepointthatbalancestheproductionandconsumptionofeachcommodity,sothatthemacrobalanceisachieved.

TheproblemwithSay’sLawisthatitdoesnotconsiderthatsellingandbuyingcanbeseparatedintime.Thisseparationiscausedbytheuseofmoney.Apersondoesnotnecessarilyhavetobuybackconsumergoodsimmediatelyaftersellingaproduct.Youcanholdmoneyinthemiddleuntilyouhaveconsumerdemand,atwhichtimemoneyisperformingthefunctionofameansofstorage.Theuseofcurrencyasameansofstoragegavebirthtothepossibilitythatif,foraperiodoftime,mostpeopletendtopostponeconsumptionandstoremoney,itwillcauseinsufficientconsumptionanddisruptthebalanceofproductionandconsumption.Specifically,itwillbemanifestedasaninsufficientamountofcurrencyincirculation,causingcommoditypricestofall.Iffallingpricescannotstimulatemoreconsumerdemand,thebalancecanonlyberestoredbyreducingproduction,whichisaneconomicrecession.Conversely,ifthemajorityofpeopletendtoreducesavingsandincreaseconsumptionforaperiodoftime,therewillbeaphenomenonthatproductioncannotsatisfyconsumption,whichismanifestedintheexcessiveamountofcurrencyincirculationandtheriseofcommodityprices,whichinturnstimulatesproductionandeconomicgrowth.Thealternationofthetwowillcausecyclicalfluctuationsintheeconomy.

Thereasonsfortheeconomiccycleandeconomiccrisisarecomplex.Fromtheaboveanalysis,thefundamentalreasonistheimbalancebetweenproductionandconsumption.Currencyasbothamediumofexchangeandameansofstorageallowsthisimbalancetoaccumulateanderupt,makingeconomiccrisespossible.Inaddition,therearealsodistributionalreasons,economicstructuralreasons,andsocio-psychologicalreasonstohelptransformthecrisisfrompossibilityintoreality.Currencyasameansofstorageisthemostbasicreason.Marxsummeditup:“Therecanbecurrencycirculationwithoutacrisis,butwithoutcurrencycirculation,therewillbenocrisis.”Itcanbeseenthatthereisaninherentrelationshipbetweenthemeansofstorageandthefunctionofthetransactionmedium.Tostabilizethemacro-economy,weshouldminimizethestorageofmoneyandtrytoseparatethefunctionofstoragemeansfromthefunctionofmoney.

Storagemethodsandpaymentfunctions

Itisrelativelylowtoaccumulateandstorewealthbyindividualsorcompaniesalone.Firstofall,evenifeveryonestoresalargeamount,theymaynotbeabletoguaranteetheneed.Secondly,decentralizedstorageincreasesthetotalamountofwealthstoredinthewholesociety,whichnotonlyincreasesthelossofwealthinthestorageprocess,butalsothewealthinthestoragestateisnotfullyutilized,andthesocio-economicefficiencyisboundtobelow.Turnpersonalstorageintosocialstorage,anduselessstoredcurrencytomeetmoredemandforuse.Becausewhenalotofpeoplearescatteredandstored,maybeeveryone'smoneyisnotenoughtosolvetheirownproblems,butwhentheyarestoredandusedcollectively,theycansolveanyone'sproblems.Atthesametime,reducingthetotalamountofstoredwealthcanusemoreresourcesforproductionandoperationandincreasesocialwealth.Socialstoragemeansthatsomepeoplewanttousethestorageofothers,thatis,usingcreditinsteadofstorage.Usingcurrencyasameansofstoragemaycauseimbalancesinproductionandconsumption,andcausemacroeconomicfluctuations.Toavoidthissituation,theuseofcurrencyasameansofstorageshouldbeminimized,andthefunctionofmoneyasameansofpaymentcanpartiallyreplacethefunctionofmeansofstorage.Forthosewhoneedtosave,itispossibletostorethemincashorinbonds.Theadvantageofcashisthatitisliquid,andtheadvantageofbondsisthatitcangenerateinterest.Butfromamacroeconomicperspective,theeffectsofthetwoarecompletelydifferent.Ifitisstoredincash,thispartofthecurrencywillleakoutofcirculation,andtheamountofcurrencyincirculationwilldecrease,whichwillaffectthestabilityofpricesandtherebyaffectproduction.Ifitisstoredintheformofbonds,thispartofthecurrencywillbeinthehandsofotherpeopleandcontinuetoparticipateintheeconomiccycle,buttheuserwillchange,anditwillhavenoimpactontheeconomy.Fromtheperspectiveofsocialcooperation,creditlendingisacooperationbetweenpeople,whilestorageisanindividual'sbehavior.Itisnaturalthattheformerhashigherefficiencyandbettersocialeffectsthanthelatter.

Theeffectofdepositsliesbetweencashandbonds.Mostdepositswillbeloanedoutbybanks,butbanksneedtomaintainacertainpercentageofreservesinordertomaintainliquidityandmeetdepositors’withdrawalneedsatanytime.Partofthereservefundisdepositedtobecomestoragecurrency.Therefore,storingpropertyintheformofdepositswillalsocausecurrencytoleakoutofcirculation,buttheamountofleakageisrelativelysmall.Awell-developedcreditsystemisneededtoreducetheproportionofmoneystoragefunctions.Becausereducingtheamountofmoneystoredmeansthatsavingsareconvertedintoborrowingbyotherpeople.Thisrequiresnotonlythatenoughpeoplearewillingtoborrowmoney,butalsosomeonewhoiswillingtolendmoneytothem,sotheborrowermustbecreditworthyandalsoThatis,thewholesocietyneedsenoughpeoplewithcredit.Second,multipleformsofcreditareneededsothateveryonewhoneedsloanscanfindaformofloanthatsuitsthem.Third,ifthereisadevelopedbondmarketthatallowspeopletoeasilyconvertbondsintocurrencies,itcanalsoreducetheliquidityadvantageofcurrenciesandincreasetheattractivenessofbonds.