Carlinomics

"It's all about stuff." -- George Carlin

   The chief principle of the George Carlin School of Economics is that it's all about stuff.   "'I've got stuff, you've got stuff, everybody's got stuff," goes the refrain. "I've got too much of some stuff I don't need, and you've got extra stuff I want, so let's trade."
   That's called barter.
   But when the needs and wants of the two sides don't match, people invent other stuff to trade with that they keep to use later, so they can buy other stuff.
   That's called money.
   And such a system works whether those involved are two people, two corporations or two nations. Money is the stuff that keeps all the other stuff moving.
   Meanwhile, as people gather stuff, they need a stuff-place to put it. For personal stuff, it's called a house; for grain, it's called a silo; for manufactured stuff, it's a warehouse; and for money-stuff, it's called a bank.