A piece of paper of little value is printed so that it is worth a piece of lumber. With different figures it can buy the automobile or even the house. Adequate Money Supply Needed An adequate supply of money is indispensable to civilized society. We could forego many other things, but without money industry would grind to a halt, farms would become only self-sustaining units, surplus food would disappear, jobs requiring the work of more than one man or one family would remain undone, shipping and large movements of goods would cease, hungry people would plunder and kill to remain alive, and all government except family or tribe would cease to function. Not at all.
Money is the blood of civilized society, the means of all commercial trade except simple barter.
It is the measure and the instrument by which one product is sold and another purchased. Remove money or even reduce the supply below that which is necessary to carry on current levels of trade, and the results are catastrophic. In 1930 America did not lack industrial capacity, fertile farmland, skilled and willing workers or industrious farm families. It had an extensive and highly efficient transportation system in railroads, road networks, and inland and ocean waterways. Communications between regions and localities were the best in the world, utilizing telephone, teletype, radio, and a well-operated government mail system.