Leslie is hoping to obtain a piece of land for free so she can turn it into a park. Ron taunts Leslie about her $0 bid for the land because typically people expect money in exchange for goods and services. This can be a good illustration of the medium of exchange function of money, but can also lead to a deeper discussion of externalities.
See more: capitalism, exchange, medium of exchange, money, transactions
Ron owes a large settlement, but keeps his money stored in the form of gold and palladium. While the rest of the office thinks this is a really neat idea, they question whether he knows how much money he actually has since it’s not stored in paper money. Ron is confident in the weight of his money, but not its value.
See more: commodity money, fiat money, medium of exchange, monetary policy, money, store of value, unit of account
The Parks Department lists London and many of them go sightseeing. Ron comes across a novelty postcard that he likes and tries to buy the postcard with American currency, but his money isn’t accepted. Despite the importance of the dollar on a global scale, this currency has little value to the shopkeeper.
See more: fiat money, foreign exchange, medium of exchange, money, store of value, transaction costs, unit of account
The Reasonablists are having an end-of-life party, but haven’t paid for the park reservation fee. The leader offers to pay with a check since he believes they won’t be around the next day to make it worth anything. Ann happily accepts because the group has been wrong for decades before.
See more: expectations, M2, medium of exchange, money, store of value, transactions, unit of account
Ron is getting audited, so the Parks Department helps him look through receipts to help him. Ron doesn’t believe in banks, so he potentially stores his money around town in the form of gold buried around town.
See more: banks, gold, gold standard, liquidity, medium of exchange, money, money leakages, money supply, store of value
Ben has been invited to help Entertainment 7Twenty evaluate their financial situation. When Ben asks how the Tom and Jean-Ralphio are making money (generating revenue), the two show him the printing press where they create fake money with their logos on it. This money is only good at their parties and the two are attempting to create a small internal economy.
See more: counterfeit money, Federal Reserve, medium of exchange, money, money supply, printing money, store of value
Ron describes a gentleman’s agreement he made with a man to build a dining table in exchange for a 60 feet of copper pipe and a half pig. The barter system is inefficient because of how hard it is to properly measure the trades.
See more: barter system, gains from trade, medium of exchange, store of value, transactions
The Reasonablists are having their end-of-life party in the local park and Ron sees an opportunity to sell his high quality wooden flutes. Because the party springs up without notice, Ron sees a sudden spike in demand for his flutes. The leader of the Reasonabilists offers Ron a check because they don’t believe it will have any value the next day, but Ron has been selling them flutes for each of their previous going away parties.
See more: demand, demand shifts, elasticity, expectations, inelastic, M2, markets, medium of exchange, money, normal goods, preferences, store of value, transactions, unit of account
Economics of Parks & Recreation 