This article examines the special use of tobacco warehouse receipts as a store of value, medium of exchange and unit of account in Virginia during part of the British Colonial period. These receipts met the three criteria necessary for them to be a type of money. When confidence in a system of currency with coins is present, this more conventional form of money takes precedence. A respected economic form of currency with coins has all three elements of money: medium of exchange, store of value and unit of account. Tobacco warehouse receipts were used as a form of money in Colonial Virginia. They were used since there was insufficient gold or silver for the commerce in British Colonial Virginia at that time. Also, the concept of store of value is examined in detail.

Frederic Mishkin’s three traits of money are examined in light of Native American wampum. This paper explores some of these issues concerning Native American wampum and can be of help to economic historians concerned with money issues. The presentation is qualitative rather than quantitative. There is some attention given to the non-monetary uses of wampum in this article. In addition, a comparison of wampum to the stone money of Yap is provided. Keywords: Native Americans, wampum, Dutch colonials, American colonial trade, necessary traits of money, Yap stone money. JEL Classification: E40, N11

This paper examines the special use of art works as a store of value in Germany during the Third Reich era. Some Jews were able to buy their freedom, as the fascists closed in. Then as the Third Reich fell, some escaping fascists used art works to secure freedom outside of Germany. One of the characteristics of money is a store of value. When confidence in a currency is present, the more conventional form of money takes precedence. A respected, economic form of currency and coin has all three elements of money: medium of exchange, store of value and unit of account. This last trait is especially absent when using various art works as money, as there is no agreed upon unit of account with such different art. Furthermore, art works could not qualify as a medium of exchange, since only a very small amount of the population was involved in this way of dealing in art during the stressed times for the Third Reich.

China has become the biggest exporter of electronic products in the world. Government policy intervention has contributed significantly to the rapid expansion of the electronics industry. The present paper examines the evolutionary development of industrial policies related to the electronics industry in China and the impacts of such policies on the shaping of the industry. In particular, the relationship between foreign funded enterprises and domestic firms are examined in detail. The future trend of the industry is also discussed in the paper, and the policy focus of the Chinese Government is predicted. Copyright 2007 Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

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