📚 Money: the epilogue, 4/4
Inflation: the monster eating savings
Your CFA 1,000 note buys less than before, as if a spell by Fifion Ribana quietly reduced its power every year.
Interest: the price of time
Borrowing is like renting money. Interest is the rent paid to use it before earning it.
Speculation: a game of chance, Amar yakoul, Azarak ma yakoul 😜
Buying something to resell at a higher price, such as sacks of beans after harvest to sell months later. There is always risk.
Liquidity: money ready to use
Cash is like water: immediately usable. Property is like an iceberg or solidified shea butter: it takes time to melt into spendable money.
Financial life
You start earning money. Imagine a game with these important levels.
Level 1: master your personal budget
Money is like Chad's Chari River. Water flows, philosophers would say. If it stagnates, it loses value, but its movement must be managed:
• Income: the source feeding it.
• Spending: channels draining it.
• Savings: the dam retaining it for later.
Level 2: think about investing
Plant seeds, money, to harvest fruit, more money, later. Beware of bad weather: risks!
Level 3: diversification
Divide and rule can also apply to money. Spread your income sources to keep control. Do not put all your eggs in one basket. When things get difficult on one side, look to another. A mat's beauty comes from its varied colours.
The ultimate secret: money is about trust
Money is a useful collective fiction. Paper notes or bitcoins on a computer have value because we collectively believe in them. It is a social technology like language or law.
Understanding money means understanding human relationships, trust and how we organise our shared world. It is more group psychology than mathematics.
Now you know the rules. May 2026 and the years ahead bring you money, energy or flows—call it what you will. Most importantly, young king, be its master: money is a good servant but a bad master.
See you soon for another digital-banking or Mobile Money topic. If you enjoyed the series, a like, comment or share would be welcome. 💰