this is a humble jellyfish a slimy floaty blob of not much but this ocean going jello can teach us
a lot about how money works and since that's why i'm here let me explain you see zoos and
aquariums around the world display all sorts of fancy creatures for a whole bunch of reasons they
offer scientists a controlled environment to study animals breeding programs for species on the edge
of extinction and of course they offer a fun day for people who just want to look at animals that
last part is especially important for these zoos because even the ones that are not run for profit
need those visitor dollars to pay for the first two functions now the best way to achieve all
these three things is to have a diverse selection of animals back in the day this was pretty easy
zoos became popular in the 19th century as royal menageries or exotic animal shelters were made
available to the public for a modest admission this is why a lot of zoos around europe are
still called royal zoos to this day the success of these early establishments led to for-profit zoos
bringing up all over europe and america to get a slice of this profitable little pastime kitting
out the zoo with animals was merely a matter of finding an exotic animal dealer and placing an
order the animals were just a business asset to bring in money no different from the gift shop
or the land the zoo was on unfortunately for our would-be zookeepers america passed the endangered
species and wildlife act in 1973 which expressly forbid the sailor trait of wild animals for money
around this same time period most other countries followed suit with similar laws this means that
zoos looking to fill out their enclosures could no longer just pay to win of course for existing zoos
this wasn't a major issue animals are great because they have an inbuilt copy and paste
function but this law did massively slow down the opening of any new parks especially those that
were to be run for profit even still the existing parks did need to set up a system of trade to
ensure that they got a fair chance at achieving these three main goals so they had to figure out
a system of exchange that didn't involve money now there were two different approaches taken to this
regular zoos from around the world established the most simple form of exchanging goods and services
the don't be a dick approach basically zoos will openly trade their animals for nothing
but good karma amongst others used to ensure that healthy populations are maintained research can
be conducted breeding programs are facilitated and of course tickets sold this is the medium of
exchange that served early humanity before more sophisticated systems took hold it's a common
misconception that bartering as in trading one goat for 10 bales of corn was the standard before
currencies came along and in reality there is actually no historic evidence of bartering being
used as a widespread medium of exchange in any culture at any point in history before currencies
people simply tended to exist in small communal groups that simply shared stuff equitably amongst
themselves just the same as you would with your friends and family which was entirely what these
early groups were made up of of course as soon as these groups got large enough that not everybody
knew everybody else like say early cities this honor system quickly broke down that is why in
many ways the adoption of currencies is just as vital to human development as agriculture
the wheel and domesticated animals now speaking of domesticated animals you might be asking this is
great but what does this have to do with jellyfish economics well you see while the zoos were content
to adopt this very easy breezy system of good karma their aquatic counterparts the aquariums
decided to take a more capitalistic approach now they couldn't trade the animals for money
or anything else of value because of course that would break the various laws around the world and
encourage people to hunt live animals for profit so instead they traded animals for animals now
you might say well isn't that just bartering and you would be right but there is one key difference
aquariums have a reserve currency the jellyfish the jellyfish surprisingly makes a good currency
for a few good reasons for starters their individual value is pretty low they are
pretty much the least valuable thing on display in most aquariums which is good because you can't
divide marine life into pennies and dimes like you can a dollar because well that kills the fish so
jellyfish work well because anything else on display is going to be some multiple of a
jellyfish they are also relatively easy and cheap to keep and their populations remain
stable year round which means that you don't have to worry about hyperinflation caused by...
reckless... jellyfish... printing in many ways these are all the same reasons that gold was such a popular
medium of exchange around the world before modern fiat currencies rose to prominence in the mid
20th century now interestingly enough just because jellyfish have these traits does not mean they are
totally immune from inflation and seasonal spikes have seen the value of these slimy poker chips
decline but overall it gets the job done which is really the big takeaway here now i'm sure
you want to know the exchange rate between a jellyfish and the us dollar currency pair
and surprisingly enough if we use the secondary exchange rate between a jellyfish and a fish you
can buy to eat we will find that this currency pair is almost at parity but don't think that you
can get rich scooping these little creatures out of the water some of them will sting you and their
value depends a lot on you individually being a reliable trading partner for marine animals
other than just jellyfish even if you did manage to pull it off all you would be able
to trade it for is a penguin or something which is cool but you know kind of hard to look after
in reality most trades between aquariums will be a direct swap of one animal for another but being
able to throw in a few extra jellyfish on the side smooths out the transaction enough to ensure that
these venues can continue to trade efficiently and complete their core responsibilities fortunately
for now at least people haven't started speculating on the jellyfish market but if you
happen to dive into this market and end up making a lot of money in the process be sure to follow
our step-by-step guide on how not to lose your new found fortune because you know that would sting
and while you're at it make sure to like comment and subscribe to keep on learning how money works