whafford ([info]whafford) wrote,
@ 2008-10-05 14:29:00
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Entry tags:money

Busy busy

With three things all coming to a deadline tomorrow, I've been away from LJ for a long time. I'm advising potential Rhodes fellows and their deadline is Monday, I'm organizing midterm portfolios for my students, and those are due Monday, and I'm also giving the Anthropology Colloquium talk at 4:30 on Monday afternoon [Museum room 345].

That latter deadline is the one that has taken most of my time, I admit. I've been gathering data for this for years and it's about bloody time I presented some results. This one is a longer talk about the bigger implications of weights and weighing in the Bronze Age Near East, but I'll present again in Boston on November at the American Schools of Oriental Research meetings on the more specific analysis of weights from the ancient city of Ur in Iraq.

So even now, I don't have much time to make a good entry to LJ. I'll post this week's prompt from my money class here and see what you all think, though:

Georg Simmel states that when money stops moving it is no longer money. Indeed, the idea of circulation is very important in regards to an economy and one of the functions of money is as a means of payment. But just how far and how fast does our physical money move? For an idea of this concept, go to www.wheresgeorge.com and look at a few examples from the pulldown menu, 'George's Top 10.' The first item on that menu is 'Bills.' Click on it and choose two or three of the top 10 bills. How far and how fast did those bills move? Do you think this is an accurate depiction of circulation of the US dollar?


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My two cents
[info]word_gardener
2008-10-06 01:15 am UTC (link)
I couldn’t say how accurate it is. That depends on the person entering the data. As for the depiction of circulation it is interesting. Beyond whether or not to bring our travel dollars with us I never gave it a lot of thought. As much as I think it is a good portrayal of how money moves around I am not sure I understand the importance of that.

It is important that money gets from the Treasury to the banks to the people. Why do we care if it gets on and off the bus, as it were, in NJ? Should it have to travel from FL to AK to be circulated? That bit I don’t get. As long as it is still honored and in “circulation” what does it matter how many hands it has been in?

Personally I think when money stops moving it becomes a value of a different kind – a collectible.

Good luck with everything tomorrow. I am sure it will all go wonderfully.

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Re: My two cents
[info]whafford
2008-10-06 10:37 am UTC (link)
I agree that money becomes a collectible and can have value as such, but I suppose to be 'money' it does have to circulate as a representation of our interconnectedness. Doesn't matter if it makes it all the way to Alaska, as you say, and in fact, I the dollar makes many stops in a local circle that just can't all be tracked by wheresgeorge. Once a bill gets a wheresgeorge stamp on it, it sometimes gets treated differently than a normal bill anyway, so even though the site is interesting, it can't really show us the movement of our dollars.

Love the Dr. Who icon, by the way.

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Re: My two cents
[info]word_gardener
2008-10-06 03:57 pm UTC (link)
Brilliant photo of you, by the by . . . I remember when Kyle made that entry.

Ok, money as a measure of interconnectedness, Hmmmmm, does it then cease to be a measure of value and become a symbol of socioeconomics?

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[info]lawbabeak
2008-10-06 01:52 am UTC (link)
Does that mean "at the Museum, room 345" or the "Museum Room, 345" in another building? I have a lot of time on my hands right now, so it would be really cool to stretch my brain and hear you talk.

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[info]whafford
2008-10-06 10:33 am UTC (link)
It is in the museum, Anthropology department in the academic wing. The galleries are closed on Mondays so that wing won't be accessible. As far as I know anyone can attend but it's mainly going to be students and faculty since flyers have only been posted in the department.

Since the galleries are closed, if you want to attend you will have to come in through the Kress entrance on the east side. It's the only set of doors that will be open. Then elevator to third floor and all the way down the hall to the end of the Anthro department.

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[info]kylecassidy
2008-10-07 09:10 pm UTC (link)
where of course the sign only says there are office numbers up to 330....

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