The ABC of Money

It seems a simple question - what is money?- but the answer is more complicated than you'd think. In 1891, America's greatest self-made man, steel tycoon Andrew Carnegie, took on the subject in this essay. Here, he explains: • the historical basis for money as a medium of exchange • the difference between "money" and "currency" • the trouble governments get into when they "make money" • the problems that coming with backing currency with silver • the "good sense" of the gold standard • and more. The ABC of Money: Lessons from a Tycoon offers a highly readable discussion of a basic concept of economics. Also from Cosimo: Carnegie's Round the World, Triumphant Democracy, James Watt, An American Four-in-Hand in Britain, The Empire of Business, The Gospel of Wealth, and the Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie.