Why do we place such high value to things such as gold and diamonds? Wouldn’t it make sense to put that value on things that are more “useful”?
In: Economics
Gold is rare and unique. Gold is very useful to convey value. It is not abundant, it takes labor to extract it, it has intrinsic properties that make it hard or impossible to fake or destroy, and of course it looks good. What else could past societies use to track their wealth? You said something useful, so what would it be? Were they supposed to rely on sacks of grain? It’s impractical.
In the modern world we no longer need to rely on gold to convey value, and we don’t. But it still retains its rarity, it’s properties, and it’s appeal.
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