Title: Planet Money: What Is Money?
Course: Tennessee Economics Sample Syllabus > Section: Standard 1: 🧩Scarcity & Economic Reasoning

This story looks at a small island in the Pacific Ocean called Yap to answer a big question: What is money? On Yap, limestone is considered valuable, much like gold and silver in other places. But because limestone is very heavy, people can’t move it easily. As a result, money has become more abstract. People agree to its value but don’t necessarily have the limestone itself. Listen to learn what money is and to explore how people in our society also buy and sell by using something (coins and bills) that represents something valuable, rather than using the valuable thing itself.