Quote from: criptix on March 22, 2015, 01:12:57 AM

Quote from: JorgeStolfi on March 22, 2015, 12:01:01 AM

I don't know what you mean by "pegged".

i mean the way you evaluate what wealth is. you explain it as the sum of your properties/possessions.
so my interpretation of wealth pegged to real products shouldnt be far off or did i misunderstood you?

I would rather say that wealth *is* real properties/posessions (including some "virtual goods" like copyrights, but let's ignore them forsimplicity), and services one uses. Money is only tokens that can be exchanged for real wealth. Money can be counted as real wealth for some purposes (e.g. estimating the wealth of a person or company), but should be ignored for other purposes (wealth ofa country).

Quote from: criptix on March 22, 2015, 01:12:57 AM

i agree that all properties in fact dont change in value and everyone with real estate etc will be on the better side.
but the problem starts when you are using the currency itself especially in foreign trading/importing international goods.
everything becomes 10x more expensive. ergo you are losing your wealth. (most people living on earth manage to survive somehow)

Yes, I tried to mention that -- foreign trade is one area where currency devaluation obviously has large impact. But that is only if inernal salaries and prices are not properly adjusted. The loss you mention is actually due to the government taking away some of the citizen's wealth, by issuing more money.

Quote

Quote from: JorgeStolfi on March 22, 2015, 12:01:01 AM

But it is precisely because of the possibility of inflation, money printing, and wild excursions in currency exchange rates that one should ignore the money when evaluating a nation's wealth, and focus only on actual things and services.

of course it would make alot of sense, but the world just doesnt work like this.
governments and their money policies just scream for it just in different volumes.
what you perceive as wealth can be taken from you any moment - not sure if you can call that real wealth

Yes, discussions about national and international economy often seem to consider money as wealth, or are ambiguous/confused about that point.

I would think that the question of what is "real wealth" and what is just tokens that stand for real wealth does not depend on whether the government can seize it or not. For me, "real" does not imply "permanent". The government can seize your bank account, your car, your bitcoins, your copyrights. That is just one of many ways in which you can lose your real wealth, or your tokens. Your cow may die, your library may burn down, your car may be stolen...

In fact, I think that the desire for "permanent wealth", that cannot be lost or lose its value, is as naive as the desire for eternal youth or eternal life...