What You Should've Learned in School
Over 9 million people in the US openly identify themselves as LGBT. There’s so many of us, and yet hearing about LGBT singers is like finding a needle in a haystack. It’s cool when you do, but it’s not the norm.
Listed down below are some of the most inspirational singers that LGBT people should learn about in their lifetime. The ways in which these artists are changing the game for all of us is powerful and important. [Read more…] about 10 Incredible LGBT Singers You Should Know
Are you looking to dive into the world of real estate investment, but aren’t quite sure where to begin?
Investing in real estate can prove to be very lucrative. However, you need to know what you’re doing before you get started. Otherwise, you could end up losing a lot of money. [Read more…] about 8 of the Best Books on Real Estate Investing
The pansexual flag represents people whose attraction towards others is not determined by sex or gender identity.
“Pan” comes from the Latin word for “all”, referring to an attraction toward all genders.
Before I understood the meaning of the term pansexuality, also called omnisexuality, I had a lot of misconceptions about it. However, the more I’ve learned about it, the more I believe it describes many people from across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. [Read more…] about What Is the Pansexual Flag and Who Does It Represent?
Fiat currency is paper money created by government decree that is not backed by a physical asset with intrinsic value. As of 2020, there are approximately 180 fiat currencies worldwide.
Examples of fiat currencies are the U.S. dollar, the European Euro, and Japanese Yen, among many others.
To understand how fiat currencies work, let’s look at one specific example, the U.S. dollar. Of course, thanks to globalization, the same system that applies to the U.S. dollar now applies to fiat currencies worldwide. [Read more…] about What Is Fiat Currency? And How Does It Affect You?
Money supply is the total amount of money circulating in the economy at a particular time, often measured on a country-by-country basis.
The reason that money supply is important is that it can drive inflation or deflation, affect the price of investments, influence exchange rates, and in some cases, impact economic and business cycles.
For this reason, money supply is tracked by the government or central bank of each country to keep track of a nation’s economic health and stability.
While there’s lots of money floating out in the world, in reality, it can be separated into three simple categories.
M1 money is active money. It includes all physical currency, including paper money and coinage, checking accounts, travelers’ checks, and similar accounts.
This is money that is immediately available to make purchases payments.
M2 money includes everything in M1, plus time-related deposits and non-institutional money market funds.
It is any money easily liquidated into cash.
M3 money is everything in M1 and M2, plus large deposits, institutional money market funds, significant liquid assets, and short-term repurchase agreements.
This is money that is less liquid than other components of the money supply.
At a basic level, measurements of money supply exist to track the process of money creation.
Commercial (for-profit) banks play a major role in the process of money creation, in large part, because of the fractional reserve banking system used in the U.S. and worldwide.
Based on the fractional reserve system, when you put $100 in the bank, the bank is allowed to lend out $90 of it, keeping only $10 as mandated bank reserves. If the people/businesses who receive that $90 place it into a bank, then $81 can be lent out (90%). And so on. It is estimated that this system allows one dollar to be lent out up to 100 different times.
This means that a single dollar can multiply itself. Pretty fascinating, right? And, hopefully a little concerning too?
If you want to know financial speak, this is called the “multiplier effect.” It means money is created whenever a bank gives out a loan.
In short, the money supply needs to be tracked, because our financial systems allow it to multiply itself and shape-shift into new forms.
What questions do you have about the money supply? Ask them in the comments below and let’s discuss.