As I think about the recent mayhem, it began to seem apparent that the world has been living on imaginary cash for the longest time. The recent economic downturn is probably long overdue.

The problem began ever since cash was free to value itself against gold. Then, we have stocks and property market that are actually made up by us humans putting an imaginary value to it. It's sort of like a super intelligent and legalized pyramid scheme you know - putting money into a money pool and "cashing out" at the right time.

To put it simply, one moment I could get a valuation of your house and it's worth $1m. The next moment another person comes in and values it at $1.1m. You think you have gained an extra $0.1m, but that's not true until you actually sell your house. And to really sell your house, you'll need somebody to pay you cold hard cash.

That guy valuating your house ain't the person that's going to buy it. He's just looking at general market statistics and putting a price tag on your house. Until somebody out there has $1.1m to spare, your house is probably worth as much as how much a person is willing to pay for it. If you ask somebody from Zimbawe, it goes like: "the bricks and cement".

About cold hard cash. Where do you get it from? Maybe take a loan from the bank... well, where did the bank get their cash from? It's from all the people who put money into it. People who clean your toilets, sell you fishes at the wet market, deliver your goods to your office, milk the cows.

Yes, money originates from something very basic, and that's trade (tada, your supply and demand topic); you have something I want, and I give you something in exchange for it. It used to be exchange of farm produce (barter trade), then it became precious metals (gold, silver), and finally, money. Money used to represent gold, but now, it's just a piece of paper with a floating value! If you look at it objectively, US dollars is probably worth nothing. If you hold a dollar bill, it's likely that piece of paper meant you owe Japan some money... better sell that "IOU" to somebody else who wants it :P

Singaporeans don't really realize that day-to-day, they pay for something that doesn't even physically exist. Don't believe me? Check this out...

• PSLE, GCE O Levels, GCE A Levels, Diploma, Degree, Masters', PhD
  
• Housing Valuation
• Certificate of Entitlement (COE)
  
• Registry of Marrige (ROM) Certificate
  
• Lottery Tickets
• Certificates, certificates, certificates

Some may tell me, oh yes, education is for knowledge. I'd agree that to learn something has to be paid for, but for the sake of a "piece of paper" (as many Singaporeans affectionately call it) is basically a form of bribery. Certifications are glorified testimonials, albeit highly inaccurate. It's like you getting a letter from Bush saying that you are good in Computer Engineering. How many times have you seen your company hire a new degree graduate and you think to yourself, "this guy is dunk"?

Back in the old days, testimonials were made out of goodwill: "John makes great pizza!". Without a dollar value pegged to testimonials, they were honest and accurate.

People are telling me, times are bad; go study. I was like: "Uh? Siao boh? Buy another certificate?" In fact, 9 in 10 government sector tell me to go study and join the government. You'll be safe. Nice try. Methinks please go get some cash and gold... in times of war, your degree is as good as toilet paper.

I'm sure a lot of you would have been offended by my post. Well, times are bad... what to do? It makes me think harder :P