List and describe the three functions of money.

Spending, sharing and taking.

1. Medium of exchange: Money can be used for buying and selling goods and services. If there were no money, goods would have to be exchanged through the process of barter (goods would be traded for other goods in transactions arranged on the basis of mutual need). For example: If I raise chickens and want to buy cows, I would have to find a person who is willing to sell his cows for my chickens. Such arrangements are often difficult. But Money eliminates the need of the double coincidence of wants.

2. Unit of account: Money is the common standard for measuring relative worth of goods and service.

3. Store of value: Money is the most liquid asset (Liquidity measures how easily assets can be spent to buy goods and services). Money’s value can be retained over time. It is a convenient way to store wealth.