There's a lot of options.

有很多選擇。

Would it be fire, because it gives us warmth, protection, and the ability to cook our meals?

會是火嗎，因為它給了我們溫暖、保護和做飯的能力？

Or perhaps you would pick the wheel, because it's the driving force behind the beginnings of trade, commerce, and travel.

或者，您可能會選擇車輪，因為它是貿易、商業和旅行起源的驅動力。

While both of these are excellent choices, most of the time when we think about the greatest ones of all, it's money.

雖然這兩種選擇都很好，但大多數時候，當我們想到最偉大的選擇時，那就是金錢。

But unlike man's other great inventions, money is immaterial.

但與人類的其他偉大發明不同，金錢並不重要。

Maybe that's why we don't often think of it in the same breath as some of the other great inventions.

也許這就是為什麼我們不常把它與其他一些偉大的發明相提並論的原因。

Things like fire and the wheel are tangible.

火和車輪等事物都是有形的。

But not money.

但不是錢。

Money is merely an idea, an illusion whose value is non-existent, only determined by the importance we place on it.

金錢只是一種觀念，一種幻覺，它的價值並不存在，只取決於我們對它的重視程度。

Or at least money as we know it today.

或者至少是我們今天所知的金錢。

However, the fact that money is an illusion does not in any way undermine its importance.

然而，金錢是一種幻象這一事實絲毫不會削弱它的重要性。

Before we created money, we were forced to trade goods and services directly in what we refer to as the barter system.

在我們創造貨幣之前，我們被迫以我們稱之為易貨貿易系統的方式直接交易商品和服務。

People exchanging goods and services for other goods and services in return.

人們用商品和服務換取其他商品和服務。

Because there was no arbitrary value placed on these items, every single trade was determined by what each party was willing to give up for something that they wanted.

因為這些物品沒有任意的價值，所以每一筆交易都取決於雙方願意放棄什麼來換取自己想要的東西。

It was kind of like a game.

這有點像遊戲。

If I wanted some of your vegetables for dinner but I only reared cattle, I would have to give you one of my animals in exchange for a bag of vegetables.

如果我想吃你的蔬菜，但我只養牛，我就必須給你我的一頭牲畜來換取一袋蔬菜。

If I wanted shoes to wear but I only made tents, I would have had to give you an entire tent in exchange for a pair of shoes.

如果我想要穿的鞋，但我只做帳篷，我就不得不用一整個帳篷來交換一雙鞋。

And immediately you can already see one of the major problems with this system of trade.

你馬上就能看到這種貿易體系的一個主要問題。

It's the asymmetry.

是不對稱。

As a tent maker, there's no way I wouldn't feel cheated having to exchange an entire living space for simple footwear.

作為一個帳篷製作者，我不可能不感到被欺騙，因為我必須用整個生活空間來換取簡單的鞋襪。

Because there was no standardized medium of exchange, it was very difficult to get two people who needed things from each other to come to an agreement.

由於沒有標準化的交換媒介，要讓兩個互相需要東西的人達成協議非常困難。

Having to wait until a double coincidence of once where two people need the exact opposite thing at the same time was also very difficult and inefficient.

要等到兩個人同時需要完全相反的東西的雙重巧合也是非常困難和低效的。

And that wasn't all.

這還不是全部。

You see, our money is not only a medium of exchange, it's also considered a store of value.

要知道，我們的貨幣不僅是一種交換媒介，還被視為一種價值儲存手段。

And before the invention of money, some people could never store their wealth for no fault of their own.

而在貨幣發明之前，有些人由於自身的原因永遠無法儲存財富。

Think about the farmer who sells tomatoes and the man who makes tents.

想想賣西紅柿的農民和做帳篷的人。

The man who makes tents can create an entire village of real estate and barter it out with anyone who needs a place to rest their head all year long.

製造帳篷的人可以創造一整個村莊的房地產，並與任何需要在一年四季都有地方歇腳的人進行交換。

And he would probably cash out on that.

他很可能會從中套現。

But the farmer who sells tomatoes can only barter when tomatoes are in season.

但賣西紅柿的農民只能在西紅柿上市的季節以物易物。

And because tomatoes are perishable goods, he cannot keep them for a long period of time.

由於西紅柿是易腐爛的商品，他不能長期保存。

So, although he would be putting in the same effort into his business as the tent maker, there's absolutely no way for him to remain wealthy all year long.

是以，儘管他和帳篷製造商一樣努力經營自己的生意，但他絕對不可能全年都保持富裕。

There's also the problem of having something that only very few people want.

還有一個問題是，只有極少數人想要的東西。

Nowadays, when starting a business, you're often told to find a niche, a small group of people who are very interested in what you have to offer.

如今，在創業時，人們經常告訴你要找到一個利基市場，一小群對你所提供的產品非常感興趣的人。

Before money was a thing, that advice would have nothing worth bartering.

在沒有錢之前，這些建議沒有任何值得交換的價值。

The people who had the most were those who owned things that everyone wanted.

擁有最多的人是那些擁有人人都想要的東西的人。

Things like weapons, animal skin, and salt.

比如武器、獸皮和鹽。

But then since everyone knew that everyone wanted these things, they started buying them even if they didn't need them at the time, just so they could trade with them later.

但後來，因為大家都知道每個人都想要這些東西，所以即使當時不需要，他們也開始購買，以便日後與他們交易。

And so commodity money became a thing.

於是，商品貨幣成了一種東西。

People would exchange goods and services for the most common items, like salt or weapons, and just use that to trade for what they want from someone else.

人們用商品和服務交換最普通的物品，比如鹽或武器，然後用這些物品從別人那裡換取他們想要的東西。

From salt and weapons, to tiny collectibles like shells and bees.

從鹽和武器，到貝殼和蜜蜂等小收藏品。

Humanity had found a better way to trade and transact.

人類找到了更好的貿易和交易方式。

Instead of exchanging goods and services for goods and services you may not need at the time, you can exchange your goods and services for arbitrary objects to act as placeholders of value, an IOU, or I-O-U.

您可以用任意物品作為價值佔位符（IOU 或 I-O-U），而不是用您當時可能不需要的物品和服務來交換您的物品和服務。

After that, you can use these placeholders to get goods and services you actually want from someone else.

之後，您就可以利用這些佔位符從別人那裡獲得您真正想要的商品和服務。

The idea was brilliant, so brilliant that the entire world moved away from the barter system to the money trading system.

這個想法非常聰明，聰明到整個世界都從易貨貿易系統轉向了貨幣交易系統。

But there was still one problem with this medium of exchange.

但這種交換媒介還有一個問題。

You see, for money to be worth anything, it needs to be scarce.

要知道，錢要有價值，就必須稀缺。

The more available something is, the lesser its implied value.

可用性越強的東西，其隱含價值就越低。

That's basic economics.

這是基本的經濟學原理。

If everyone can get their hands on something, it can't be worth that much, right?

如果每個人都能弄到手的東西，就不可能值那麼多錢，對嗎？

So things like sand or shells that you could easily pick up on any beach weren't really a good measure of value.

是以，像沙子或貝殼這樣在任何海灘上都能輕易撿到的東西，並不是衡量價值的好標準。

As a result, around the year 770 BC, the first metal coins were created in China.

是以，大約在公元前 770 年，中國出現了第一批金屬錢幣。

As a sort of homage, the Chinese made miniature versions of the tools that were once regarded as currency.

作為一種敬意，中國人制作了曾被視為貨幣的工具的微縮版。

They made the coins circular so that it was easy to reach into your pocket and take them out without hurting your fingers.

他們把硬幣做成圓形，這樣就可以很容易地把手伸進口袋裡取出硬幣，而不會弄傷手指。

Then they cast the coins in bronze.

然後，他們用青銅鑄造硬幣。

This was it.

就是這樣。

Money was finally worth something.

錢終於值錢了。

You couldn't just go to a beach somewhere and pick up bronze.

你不能只是去某個海灘撿青銅。

It was scarce.

它很稀少。

It had value.

它有價值。

At this time, money wasn't yet an illusion.

此時，金錢還不是幻想。

The value of a coin was determined by the value of the metal the coin was made out of.

硬幣的價值是由硬幣的金屬價值決定的。

If you had a coin that was made from 1 gram of gold, it was worth 1 gram of gold.

如果你有一枚由 1 克黃金製成的硬幣，它就價值 1 克黃金。

You could easily measure it and see for yourself that it is, in fact, 1 gram of gold.

你可以很容易地測量一下，親眼看到它實際上是 1 克黃金。

However, kings and rulers quickly discovered the power of money.

然而，國王和統治者很快就發現了金錢的力量。

They realized that the more of these tiny precious metals you had, the more power you could control.

他們意識到，這些微小的貴金屬越多，你能控制的力量就越大。

And so in 600 BC, Aliades, king of Lydia, created the first official money mint.

是以，公元前 600 年，呂底亞國王阿里阿德斯創建了第一個官方鑄幣廠。

He created the coins using a mix of silver and gold and stamped an image on the coin to act as denominations.

他用金銀混合製成硬幣，並在硬幣上印上圖案作為面額。

Now people could easily tell the value of the piece of metal they were holding simply by looking at the picture on its face.

現在，人們只需看一下金屬表面的圖案，就能輕鬆辨別出手中金屬的價值。

But the kings of the world wanted more money, and precious metals were too expensive.

但世界上的國王們想要更多的錢，而貴金屬太貴了。

To produce more money, they started slimming down the coins, then mixing the more expensive metals with cheaper metals.

為了生產更多的貨幣，他們開始對錢幣進行瘦身，然後將更貴的金屬與更便宜的金屬混合在一起。

Soon, all the coins in circulation were worth less than what the image on their face said they were worth.

很快，所有流通硬幣的價值都低於其表面圖案所顯示的價值。

And so the illusion of money was born.

於是，金錢的幻覺誕生了。

The value of the coin was no longer determined by the value of the metal.

硬幣的價值不再由金屬的價值決定。

The value of the coin was now simply what the rulers in the bank said it was.

現在，硬幣的價值只是銀行裡的統治者說了算。

So 1 British pound sterling represented 1 pound of sterling silver.

是以，1 英鎊代表 1 磅純銀。

However, when international trade became a thing, people realized that metal coins were too heavy to log around.

然而，隨著國際貿易的發展，人們意識到金屬硬幣太重，無法隨身攜帶。

And so kings around the world started issuing IOU certificates for long distance trading.

於是，世界各地的國王開始發行用於遠距離交易的借據證書。

Because these pieces of paper were stamped by the king, people trusted its value and believed that they could use it to get back whatever it was worth in coins.

由於這些紙片上蓋有國王的印章，人們相信它的價值，相信可以用它換回任何價值的錢幣。

And that was true for the time being.

目前確實如此。

As more of these IOU certificates flooded the market, people needed coins less and less.

隨著越來越多的欠條充斥市場，人們對硬幣的需求越來越少。

Until finally, the paper was worth what we believed it was worth, even if we no longer exchanged it for physical pieces of gold and silver.

直到最後，即使我們不再用紙張兌換實物金銀，我們也相信紙張的價值。

From ancient kings to modern day governments and central banks, money has remained an illusion, a mere representation whose value is determined by the importance people place on it.

從古代國王到現代政府和中央銀行，貨幣始終是一種幻象，只是一種表象，其價值取決於人們對它的重視程度。

The most valuable banknote in circulation today is the 10,000 Singapore dollars note.

目前流通的最值錢的紙幣是 10,000 新元。

Although not being produced anymore, this single piece of paper worth 7,345 US dollars at the tender.

雖然現在已不再生產，但這一張紙在投標時價值 7345 美元。

So you can still use it to buy things, valuable things like houses, cars, and even metals like gold.

是以，你仍然可以用它來買東西，買有價值的東西，比如房子、汽車，甚至黃金等金屬。

The banknote itself costs less than 20 cents to produce.

鈔票本身的製作成本不到 20 美分。

But the illusion of the fiat currency system means it's as valuable as 120 grams of gold.

但法定貨幣體系的假象意味著它的價值不亞於 120 克黃金。

Fiat is the fancy word we use to describe the modern day illusion.

菲亞特是我們用來形容現代幻覺的一個花哨的詞。

It's a Latin word that translates to let it be done.

這是一個拉丁詞，翻譯過來就是 "讓它完成"。

It's a decree by the government that, in the case of money, determines what its value is and enforces it as legal tender.

就貨幣而言，它是由政府頒佈的法令，決定貨幣的價值，並將其作為法定貨幣強制執行。

The illusion of money is one that we never really think about.

我們從未真正思考過金錢的幻覺。

But just like the kings of old, the governments of today understand the power of money and, as always, want more of it.

但就像古代的國王一樣，當今的政府也瞭解金錢的力量，並一如既往地想要獲得更多的金錢。

They know that the more of these pieces of paper you have, the more power you have.

他們知道，這些紙片越多，你的權力就越大。

So what do they do?

那麼，他們是怎麼做的呢？

Well, they can simply create more pieces of paper out of thin air.

那麼，他們只需憑空造出更多的紙片即可。

Yes, if for example the United States government wanted 340 million dollars for, I don't know, maybe another F-22 jet, they can simply print the money to do so.

是的，舉例來說，如果美國政府想用 3.4 億美元再買一架 F-22 戰鬥機，我也不知道，他們可以直接印鈔票來買。

But there's one problem with this.

但這有一個問題。

Inflation.

通貨膨脹。

The thing about money is that primarily, it needs to be a means of exchange to be considered valuable.

關於貨幣的問題在於，它首先必須是一種交換手段，才能被認為是有價值的。

So the amount of money in circulation needs to reflect the output of the goods and services that are being produced.

是以，流通中的貨幣量需要反映正在生產的商品和服務的產出。

When more money is printed than there are goods and services, all other things being equal, the prices of these goods and services increase and the value of the money itself drops.

當印製的貨幣多於商品和服務時，在其他條件相同的情況下，這些商品和服務的價格就會上漲，貨幣本身的價值就會下降。

This is why many economists, and even everyday people like you and me, are worried about the current global reserve currency, the United States dollar. 2020 was a terrible year for the entire world.

這就是為什麼許多經濟學家，甚至像你我這樣的普通人，都對當前的全球儲備貨幣美元感到擔憂。對整個世界來說，2020 年是糟糕的一年。

In the wake of the pandemic, most economies had to be shut down.

大流行病發生後，大多數經濟體不得不關閉。

The goods and services available and the general output of the economy was reduced to mere trickles, and the world kind of came to a halt for a while.

可提供的商品和服務以及經濟的總體產出只剩下涓涓細流，世界一度陷入停頓。

Because there wasn't as much money flowing around, to keep the economy from going under and basically our world falling apart, the US government started printing money at a rate faster than has ever been printed before in its entire existence.

由於沒有那麼多錢流動，為了防止經濟崩潰和世界分崩離析，美國政府開始以前所未有的速度印鈔。

Right now, 40% of the US dollars in existence today were printed in the last 18 months alone.

現在，僅在過去的 18 個月裡就印製了 40% 的美元。

That's outrageous.

這也太離譜了。

And because the output of the country hasn't really increased by that much, eventually the prices of the goods and services might start to skyrocket.

由於國家的產出並沒有真正增加那麼多，最終商品和服務的價格可能會開始飆升。

You can see this taking place in the price of commodities, such as lumber, which had as much as tripled in price from just a year ago.

你可以從木材等大宗商品的價格中看到這一點，與一年前相比，木材價格上漲了兩倍之多。

If you haven't noticed, some of the prices of the things at your favorite restaurants are now slightly higher than they were last year.

如果您沒有注意到，您最喜歡的餐館裡的一些東西的價格現在比去年略高。

It's an ever so small increase, maybe the guac at Chipotle is 20 cents higher, but it's happening right there under your nose.

雖然漲幅很小，也許 Chipotle 的鱷梨醬貴了 20 美分，但它就發生在你的眼皮底下。

On the surface, it seems like a good thing that governments decided to send out stimulus and unemployment checks to their citizens, but the reality is it's a double edged sword.

表面上看，政府決定向公民發放經濟刺激和失業救濟金似乎是件好事，但實際上這是一把雙刃劍。

Of course, it helps those most in need, and that's a good thing.

當然，它能幫助那些最需要幫助的人，這是一件好事。

We're at the point where, because of inflation and a slowed economy, people really aren't able to get the right jobs at the right times.

由於通貨膨脹和經濟增長放緩，人們確實無法在合適的時間找到合適的工作。

Sometimes it's not even because they don't want them, but because it's simply worse than the alternative.

有時甚至不是因為他們不想要，而是因為這比其他選擇更糟糕。

For example, in the United States at least, if you're a waiter or waitress, you aren't required by law to be paid even minimum wage.

例如，至少在美國，如果你是一名服務員，法律甚至不要求你獲得最低工資。

Some are literally paid $2 to $3 an hour, with the rest of their income coming from tips.

有些人的時薪只有 2 至 3 美元，其餘收入來自小費。

But with a lot of restrictions and rules in place around the country, and not as customers.

但是，由於全國各地有很多限制和規定，而且客戶也不多。

Less customers with less money means less tips.

顧客少了，錢少了，小費也就少了。

If your employees aren't making enough money, they're going to quit.

如果你的員工賺不到足夠的錢，他們就會辭職。

Simple as that.

就這麼簡單。

If your business doesn't have employees to help you run it, you're going to go under.

如果你的企業沒有員工幫你經營，你就會倒閉。

It's a domino effect.

這是多米諾骨牌效應。

But what can you even do?

但你能做什麼呢？

When you can earn more money from unemployment and stimulus checks than you would from being employed, why even look for a job in the first place?

當你從失業救濟金中掙到的錢比就業掙到的錢還多時，為什麼還要找工作呢？

You see, the Federal Reserve of the United States is a very sneaky way for the government to essentially create money out of thin air and pump it into the economy without people thinking too much about it.

你看，美國聯邦儲備局是政府的一種非常狡猾的方式，它基本上是憑空創造貨幣，並在人們沒有過多考慮的情況下將其注入經濟。

Before 2020, the United States was $29 trillion in debt.

2020 年前，美國負債 29 萬億美元。

It's an unbelievable and inconceivable amount of money to even begin with.

這是一筆令人難以置信、難以想象的鉅款。

This debt is obtained in the form of bonds and treasury notes, which are basically just pieces of paper that say the government will pay you so-and-so amount plus interest.

這些債務是以債券和國庫券的形式獲得的，基本上就是一張紙，上面寫著政府將向你支付某某金額外加利息。

Right now, a 10-year U.S.

現在，10 年期的美國

Treasury bond will return you about 1.23% on your investment at expiry.

國債到期時，投資回報率約為 1.23%。

So if you put in $1,000 today, you'll have made $12.30 by 2031.

是以，如果你今天投入 1,000 美元，到 2031 年你將賺到 12.30 美元。

That sounds terrible already, but to add icing onto the cake, it doesn't even keep up with inflation, which is targeted to stay around 2% a year.

這聽起來已經很糟糕了，但錦上添花的是，它甚至跟不上通脹率，而通脹率的目標是每年保持在 2% 左右。

It's a lot higher than that, but that's for another time.

比這要高得多，但這是後話了。

By investing in government notes of your own country, which issues the currency you use every single day, you actually lose buying power over a decade.

你每天使用的貨幣是本國發行的政府紙幣，如果投資於本國紙幣，你實際上會在十年內失去購買力。

It is weakened by the day.

它日漸衰弱。

But regardless, banks, businesses, and individuals around the world buy these bonds and treasury notes, and the government uses all that money it gets back how it sees fit.

但無論如何，全世界的銀行、企業和個人都會購買這些債券和國庫券，而政府則會以其認為合適的方式使用這些資金。

However, when it's time for the government to pay its debt, all the money they made has already been spent.

然而，到了政府還債的時候，他們賺的錢已經全部花光了。

So they buy back all the treasuries and bonds, but only from the big financial institutions, and then pay them back with new money created out of thin air.

是以，他們回購所有國債和債券，但只從大型金融機構手中購買，然後用憑空創造的新貨幣償還。

Since March 2020, the Federal Reserve has bought back over $1 trillion in bonds, and is planning to continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

自 2020 年 3 月以來，美聯儲已回購了超過 1 萬億美元的債券，並計劃在可預見的未來繼續這樣做。

With all the new money pumped into them by the government, banks can now give out more loans to people, earn more interest, and help grow the economy.

有了政府注入的新資金，銀行現在可以向人們發放更多貸款，賺取更多利息，幫助經濟增長。

But this increases the total amount of money in circulation, reducing the value of each dollar.

但這增加了流通中的貨幣總量，降低了每一美元的價值。

With multi-trillion dollar stimulus payments and infrastructure packages, it makes you wonder how long this stuff can go on for.

數萬億美元的經濟刺激計劃和基礎設施一攬子計劃，讓人不禁要問，這種情況還能持續多久。

New money steals value from old money.

新錢竊取舊錢的價值。

The amount in your bank account doesn't change, but because of the new money the government has just printed out of thin air, your money is no longer valuable as it once was.

你銀行賬戶中的金額並沒有改變，但由於政府剛剛憑空印製了新貨幣，你的錢不再像以前那樣值錢了。

Basically, every second you store your in any fiat currency, such as the US dollar, it is being devalued.

從根本上說，你把錢存入任何法定貨幣（如美元）的每一秒，它都在貶值。

You could stare at your bank balance, and day by day, you'll be able to buy less and less things with whatever you have left.

你可以盯著自己的銀行存款餘額，一天天地用剩下的錢買越來越少的東西。

The reality that money is nothing but an illusion is one that we must all embrace, because only then will the path to financial freedom become clear.

金錢不過是一種幻覺，這是我們所有人都必須接受的現實，因為只有這樣，通往財務自由的道路才會變得清晰。

It's all a game, a game that never truly ends.

這只是一場遊戲，一場永遠不會真正結束的遊戲。

Understanding that money does not have any value in itself, but instead only inherits the value we give to it will prevent you from trying to store up your wealth in currency.

瞭解貨幣本身並不具有任何價值，而只是繼承了我們賦予它的價值，這將防止你試圖用貨幣來儲存財富。

Instead, using that money to acquire assets that will appreciate faster than inflation is the only way to win the game.