Money and Barter
✏️ In one line
Money is anything that people widely accept in exchange for goods and services.
📖 Story time
Arun, a college student who loves chai and cricket
- Long ago, Arun's great-grandfather swapped wheat for cloth. This swapping is called barter.
- But it only worked if the cloth seller also wanted wheat, at the same time. This is called a 'double coincidence of wants', and it was hard to find.
- Money fixed this. Today Arun just pays ₹20 for chai, and the canteen can spend that ₹20 on anything.
- Money makes buying and selling easy for everyone.
🎯 Your turn
Match each function of money to what it means.
- Medium of exchange
- Measure of value
- Store of value
- Standard of deferred payment
Drag a card onto a box, or tap a card and then a box.
Nice! Perfect! These four are the main functions of money.
Not quite. Hint: 'Deferred' means 'later'. 'Store' means 'keep'.
What was the biggest problem with barter?
Nice! Right. This is the 'double coincidence of wants', and it was hard to find.
Not quite. Hint: Remember the wheat and cloth swap.
In India, the Reserve Bank of India issues currency notes, except the ₹1 note.
Nice! True! The ₹1 note is issued by the Government of India. All other notes come from the RBI.
Not quite. Hint: One small note is the exception.
Meera: Meera keeps ₹5,000 in her bank so she can buy new stock next month.
Which function of money is she using?
Nice! Yes. Money lets Meera keep value today and use it later.
Not quite. Hint: She isn't spending it now. She's keeping it.