STAGE 1 · FOUNDATIONSLEVEL · Beginner8 LESSONSABOUT 43 MINMONEY & ECONOMICS
Most people use money every day and have never been told what it is. This course fixes that in eight lessons. It uses the history of money, the mechanics of the modern dollar and the ideas of the Austrian economists to build a set of tests you can apply to any money, which is exactly what you will do with Bitcoin in the courses that follow.
Each lesson has a short read, a video worth your time, and a quick check. About 45 minutes in total.
BY THE END OF THIS COURSE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
- Explain the three jobs of money and the properties that make it good
- Tell the difference between money and currency
- Describe how dollars are created and who benefits first
- Say what changed in 1971 and why it still matters
- Judge any money, including Bitcoin, by the same tests
Every lesson ends with a quiz or a challenge; the course is complete when each lesson is.
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LESSONS
01What money doesMoney does three jobs and is good at them when it is scarce, durable, divisible, portable, verifiable and fungible.▶ 1✓ quiz5 MIN✓02A short history of moneyMoney emerged from trade, not decree. Metal won for centuries; paper and bank money added convenience and a new issuer to trust.▶ 1✓ quiz▭ cards6 MIN✓03Fiat and central banksFiat money is backed by law, not by an asset. Central banks and commercial banks create it, and its supply has no ceiling.▶ 1✓ quiz6 MIN✓04Inflation, explainedInflation is money losing purchasing power. Even the official target compounds into most of your savings over a working life.▶ 2✓ quiz⚡ challenge5 MIN✓05The Cantillon EffectNew money reaches some people first. They spend it at old prices; everyone downstream pays new prices. That is why money printing widens inequality.▶ 1✓ quiz5 MIN✓06What happened in 1971On 15 August 1971 the US ended the dollar's convertibility to gold. Since then every major currency floats, backed by nothing but policy.▶ 1✓ quiz⚡ challenge6 MIN✓07Time preferenceTime preference is how much you value the present over the future. Money that leaks pushes people to spend; money that holds lets them plan.▶ 1✓ quiz5 MIN✓08Separating money and stateHayek argued good money needs to be taken out of the hands of government by a route they cannot stop. That is the idea Bitcoin tests.▶ 1✓ quiz5 MIN✓