Show Notes
What is money? And what can a small island in Micronesia teach us about how it works? On Yap, a remote island in the western Pacific, giant calcite “Rai” stones once functioned as currency, where ownership and collective trust — rather than physical possession — defined wealth and status. In this episode of The Story of Money, macroeconomist and author Felix Martin joins hosts Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth to explore the stones of Yap, the origins of money and why the traditional “barter theory” may be a myth.
Further reading: Money: The Unauthorised Biography (2015) by Felix Martin Uap of the Carolines (1910) by William Henry Furness III A Treatise on Money (1930) by John Maynard Keynes The Island of Stone Money (1991) and Money Mischief (1992) by Milton Friedman ‘Tralla La’ in Uncle Scrooge #6 by Carl Barks (1954) His Majesty O’Keefe (1954) Warner Bros
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Hosts: Gillian Tett and Robin Wigglesworth Guest: Felix Martin Producer: Lulu Smyth Senior Producers: Laurence Knight and Michela Tindera Executive Producers: Flo Phillips and Manuela Saragosa Original music: Breen Turner Broadcast engineers: Bianca Wakeman and Petros Giuompasis Podcast Development: Laura Clarke FT Global Head of Audio: Cheryl Brumley Video editors: Kristen Kenyon and Josh Divney at Podcast Discovery
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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