Apart from its intrinsic interest, history can often shed light on current political controversies. Many political disputes revolve around questions of economics and of all the matters that fall under the purview of economic history there is one that has had, and still has, a profound impact on many aspects of everyone's daily life, and that is money. ________________________________________ The Potlatch, Gift Exchange and Barter. Money is often, mistakenly, thought to have been invented simply because …showed first 75 words of 3191 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3191 total…participating countries in 2001 and although it lost value against the dollar after its launch it nevertheless remains a potential threat to the supremacy of the dollar in the international financial system, despite the interest in dollarization, or the substitution of the US dollar for national currencies, in parts of Latin America. References Davies, Glyn. A history of money from ancient times to the present day, 3rd ed. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2002. 720 pages. Paperback: ISBN 0 7083 1717 0.