When world commodity production reached a high level, independent products of labor began to emerge spontaneously on the market, which were in constant demand and played the role of a universal equivalent. At different stages of the development of trade, this role was played by furs, livestock, grain, and later - various metals. Later, the universal equivalent was money, which became a universal medium of exchange.
Instructions
Step 1
In the exchange of goods for each other, the parties involved in economic life need a universal equivalent, some universal form of value. This is especially important for a developed market in which one product is no longer directly exchanged for another. The universal equivalent made it possible to divide the exchange into two related acts: first, the manufacturer of the goods purchased the universal equivalent for his goods, after which he could buy the goods that he needed.
Step 2
One of the most successful types of universal equivalent has become the noble metals - silver and gold. They could easily be divided into parts, measuring the required quantities for an equivalent exchange. Precious metals are rarely found in nature, which ensured their high value. It was from silver and gold that they subsequently began to make metal money, which turned into a universal universal equivalent.
Step 3
As an important economic category, money has become a means to overcome the contradiction between value and use value. When conducting a subsistence economy, a person could satisfy his needs at the expense of the product that he made himself. In this sense, the product of a natural economy acted as a use value, because it was able to satisfy human needs.
Step 4
When the products began to be produced for exchange, the participants in economic relations began to be interested in its universal, and not in use value. The monetary form of value becomes possible only when money, being a specific commodity, begins to play a monopoly role in the exchange process. At the same time, the universal form of the value of money remains on the surface of economic relations, while the use value of this commodity is hidden.
Step 5
Money can play the role of a universal equivalent only insofar as it can be exchanged for any other good or service. This property contains not only the material essence, but also the social significance of money. The basis for the equivalent exchange of money for goods is the abstract labor embedded in money, which turns into a measure of the newly created value.
Step 6
The essence of money is precisely that it serves as a unit of measurement that expresses the value of a product in prices. The universal equivalent in this case can be compared with the measure of the value of the goods. Money is a special and unique commodity that can be exchanged for anything. This determines the general nature of this equivalent. In fact, money as a universal equivalent becomes a reflection of the relations in society that arise between producers and consumers of goods.
