Principles of Economics (12th Edition)
Principles of Economics (12th Edition)
12th Edition
ISBN: 9780134079271
Author: CASE
Publisher: PEARSON
Question
Book Icon
Chapter 25, Problem 1.1P
To determine

How cigarettes became to be and worked as money between the world war prisoners.

Expert Solution & Answer
Check Mark

Explanation of Solution

The world war was a deeply impacted war between the axis powers and the allied forces. The war leads to millions of war prisoners in many jails. During the period of the world war, there were no commonly used money forms other than the gold. Amongst the prisoners, the gold was unavailable and thus a new form of money was necessary. As the prisoners were huge in number, they started the barter system between them whereas as the time passed, the barter system became unable to operate between the mass number of war prisoners.

Money is anything that a society is willing to accept as a payment for the goods and services exchanged in the market place. Thus, a new form of money emerged between the prisoners of war which were the cigarettes. The cigarettes became the unit of account for the prisoners. They started to trade their items for cigarettes so that the issues with the barter system became solved. The prisoners were provided cigarettes on a ration by the detaining forces as well as the Red Cross volunteers which ensured the supply to them and the prices of the exchanges between the prison markets became set in terms of the number of cigarettes instead of dollars or any other currencies.

Economics Concept Introduction

Concept introduction:

Money: Money is anything that the society accepts as a payment for the goods and services exchanged in the market. It can be of the form of currencies, coins or any other items that the society is willing to accept in exchange.

Barter system: The barter system was a system of exchange of goods and services in the society where the goods and services were exchanged for other goods and services. Thus there were needs of double coincidence of needs in the market.

Want to see more full solutions like this?

Subscribe now to access step-by-step solutions to millions of textbook problems written by subject matter experts!
Students have asked these similar questions
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is at least partly to credit for which of the following? A) Lower taxes and government spending B) Increased interest rates for savers C) Increased interest rates for borrowers D) Reduced bank runs
Discuss the concept of money from the perspective of a consumer and an investor.
A group of college friends decide to start their own bank, LSU Community Bank, in rural Pennsylvania. In order to get started they put in a total of $10 million of their own money and borrow $40 million from a venture debt lender. (This is known as venture debt lending.) They accept $160 million in deposits from households and businesses in the community, and, in turn, make $90 million in loans. They also purchase $95 million of mortgage-backed securities and keep the remainder of their assets as reserves at the Philadelphia Federal Reserve District Bank. a. Show LSU Community Bank's balance sheet. b. What is LSU Community Bank's reserve-deposit ratio? c. What is LSU Community Bank's asset to equity ratio?
Knowledge Booster
Background pattern image
Similar questions
Recommended textbooks for you
Text book image
MACROECONOMICS FOR TODAY
Economics
ISBN:9781337613057
Author:Tucker
Publisher:CENGAGE L
Text book image
Survey Of Economics
Economics
ISBN:9781337111522
Author:Tucker, Irvin B.
Publisher:Cengage,
Text book image
Economics For Today
Economics
ISBN:9781337613040
Author:Tucker
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Microeconomics
Economics
ISBN:9781337617406
Author:Roger A. Arnold
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Economics (MindTap Course List)
Economics
ISBN:9781337617383
Author:Roger A. Arnold
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Text book image
Macroeconomics
Economics
ISBN:9781337617390
Author:Roger A. Arnold
Publisher:Cengage Learning