Yeah, yeah... ;-) I think you're just being obstinate for the fun of it, Bobert.

I spent quite a bit of time looking for four leaf clovers when I was a kid...they were considered more valuable than the 3 leaf variety, naturally. And when I found one, I would press it in the pages of a book.

I agree about the Colombian Boa Constrictors...gorgeous! And you will find that they are quite pricy if you go to an exotic pet store. The reason they aren't used as an exchange for money is...

# 1 - A lot of people are afraid of snakes
# 2 - It isn't practical. Every try to put 15 or 20 Boas in your back pocket or your briefcase? Doesn't work! And they need to be fed and housed. Nope. Stupid idea...

But if you were a Plains Indian, then horses were way better than currency....

Bobert, do you realize that if I was a bank owner, I could instantly create $30 million in debt owing to ME by lending $30 million to some huge corporation? I could do that without really HAVING the $30 million in the first place! And I could charge interest too.

Can you do that? Can I? No. Because we are not a "bank". And no one would believe we had that $30 million unless it showed up first at the bank! But the bank IS the bank. If they lend $30 million, then no one doubts that it's there...even if it isn't. And the moment the corporation owes that $30 million to the bank...the bank is covered, and they just became richer by $30 million plus interest. And if the corporation goes belly-up and the bank is BIG enough, then the government will borrow MORE money from the banks and lend it to the big bank so it won't fail. They do this supposedly to "protect the public". ;-)

Guess who ends up paying the government's new debts to the banks whom they borrowed the bailout money from to keep the banks from failing when their pyramid scheme went KABLOOEY?

You and I do...through our taxes.

You see where this is going? The public always eventually pays the overall debt.

You see how you can create new money through others' debts if you are a bank?