This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy Season 1, Episode 7 review: The value of money

In This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy Season 1, Episode 7, we got a look at the value of money, as well as the evolution.

Long ago, gold was used for purchases in the world. It was clear that gold was the one thing that everyone understood and soon it became the global language. But what about now? That’s something This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy looked into.

I think this had to be my favorite episode of out them all. Episode 7 delved into not just the history of gold and the evolution of money, but where it is now. We looked at the bartering system and the development of cryptocurrency.

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This whole series has been about money and how it makes the world go ’round. After watching this episode and the finale, I think this would have worked best as the final episode. It was an intriguing look with a lot of positivity and potential.

Of course, there’s the element of money as we currently knowing it disappearing. We’ve already seen how many people are switching to card payments. Can you say that you use a lot of cash anymore? I definitely don’t! Here in Canada, we’ve even got rid of the cents and two cents pieces, with the smallest coin available the five cents.

Yet, there are other countries losing their larger bills because of counterfeiting, something which an earlier episode looked into. So, it’s not surprising that there’s a look at other ways to deal with money and that leads to cryptocurrency.

Many would have heard of Bitcoin. There’s the growth of cryptocurrency, which certainly helps to keep fraud and counterfeiting to a minimum. However, it does run the risk of the growth of money laundering — although not something the episode touches on.

One thing that I love about this episode is that it focuses on the security of cryptocurrency and on the effort it takes to mine it. This isn’t as simple as walking to a bank and taking money out. It’s not the same process as printing out money. People have to mine for the currency and there are others who will trade it on the financial market.

Each coin has its own digital footprint and the Bitcoin (and other currency) wallets are among the most secure in the world. In fact, one person in the episode explains why he can’t access his own Bitcoin wallet!

If you’re only going to put one episode of This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy on, this is the one that you’ll want to choose. It’s full of information and a good look at the thing that pays for everything.

What has been your favorite episode of This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy? What did you take away from Episode 7? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

This Giant Beast That Is the Global Economy is available on Amazon Prime Video.