I'm just gonna go ahead an bash this quote I like into this thread like a hexagonal peg into an octogonal hole.
"Money and goods are not the same thing but are, on the contrary, exactly opposite things. Most confusion in economic thinking arises from failure to recognize this fact. Goods are wealth which you have, while money is a claim on wealth which you don’t have. Thus goods are an asset; money is a debt. If goods are wealth; money is not wealth, or negative wealth. The value of goods, expressed in money, is called “price”, while the value of money, expressed in goods, is called “value”.
Tragedy and Hope
Hopefully you'll consider it relevant.