Wednesday, March 23, 2016

The Genius of Money by John Bloom

Part II Chapter 2. A Window into Transparency

The Desire for Connection through Finance (pg74-79)

“Transparency is a window into the other side of financial transactions” (75).

This chapter is talking about the relationship between money and our society. It begins with one of his friend’s story, which bring out his thesis statement: “the trust and accountability that comes of living in the same community, seeing each other at the marketplace, and the awareness that failing to pay a loan could have consequences for neighbors and the local economy” (74). The author points out the current banking condition: an unhealthy imbalance between the desire for economic gain vs. sustainability in the contest of our communities. 

He has used the article “Your Money” in The New York Times, Easton Bank & Trust, and the system of community farming as examples in explaining this concept. I like how he used the words that identify reasons “first…second…third” (78), making the passage easy to read. Reading the last few paragraphs, I found it funny how the abbreviation “CSA” appear in the passage, because the organization I am leading in USC is also called CSA. (Okay, let’s go back to the topic.) At the end, he went back talking about The New York Times article. Again affirm his statement that human relationship is important in today’s financial and banking world. 

13 comments:

  1. Money is indeed inseparable from today's society. And I didn't know that you are in CSA haha

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  2. Money can make the society becomes wealth, but also can make it corrupt, so we need to balance it well.

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  3. I think the author's idea is interesting that one person's irresponsibility can lead to problems in the local community. I guess that it is how many people's economic desire go to far, result in "imbalance", and eventually a financial crisis.

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  4. I feel that transparency in financial transaction is important because this will reduce the unwanted behaviour (corruption) from people who have power.

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  5. Money and society go hand-in-hand. As a society, we are all connected. The thing that connects us, economically, is money. On the news you hear so much about the income gap. Money affects us on a daily basis and the irresponsible use of money can negatively affect many people in that society.

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  6. Reputation is invaluable and in a sense serves as another defense wall for citizens to behave and act rationally. As they know, their reckless actions could take them down for eternity.

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  7. It is interesting to think about your own economic decisions affecting others and even the entire economy as a whole. I think if people thought more about their decisions affecting other people rather than just institutions it might lead them to take more thoughtful actions when it comes to money.

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  8. It's important to make money balanced because it can make a community sustainable and it can also destroy it if it's not used well.

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  9. Breeding strong social connections within a community could potentially lead to people make more fiscally responsible decisions. They would be more concerned with the well being of others instead of just themselves.

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  10. Of course money is a huge part of society

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  11. I do definitely think that there needs to be some financial transparency but there should also be some degree of privacy

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  12. The money is very big part of society, which people dealing with it everyday. the overlap between soceity and money can be people purchasing, or money help community or people who in need.

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  13. The relationship between money and society..
    I think money and its power for good is still misunderstood,
    To many people use it to speculate

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