money that has value only because the government says it has value and because people are willing to accept it in exchange for goods
Money that has little or no intrinsic value as a commodity; it is costless to produce, usually taking the form of tokens or pieces of paper, and is not redeemable for any commodity
Fiat Money is paper currency made legal tender by law or fiat It is not backed by gold or silver and is not necessarily redeemable in coin This practice has had widespread use for about the last 70 years If governments produce too much of it, there is a loss of confidence Even so, governments print it routinely when they need it The value of fiat money is dependent upon the performance of the economy of the country which issued it Canada's currency falls into this category
Money that has little or no intrinsic value as a commodity; it is costless to produce, usually taking the form of tokens or pieces of paper; and is not redeemable for any commodity [FRBM][FRBSF] (see also money)
Paper documents or token coins, normally issued by governments and made legal tender by fiat or statutory law, not redeemable in specie; an item of exchange value based in the conditional, future domain; accepted by the issuer as compensation for taxes, fees, duties or debts; accepted by others in anticipation of future exchanges
A medium of exchange such as a coin which is accepted at a face value which is greater than its intrinsic value as a result of backing by the issuing authority (usually government)
A coin or piece of paper of insignificant commodity value that a government has declared to be money and to which the government has given "legal tender" quality Fiat money neither represents nor is a claim for commodity money Fiat money is issued without any set intention to redeem it and consequently no reserves are set aside for that purpose The value of fiat money rests on the acceptance of political law or fiat Fiat money is money in both the broader and narrower senses HA 428-30; M 60-62, 482-483
A type of money which has little or no intrinsic value in itself, but which is decreed to be money by the government and is generally accepted in exchange Modern paper currencies are all fiat money, as are most coins in active circulation
Coin or currency that is not convertible to precious metal Webster's defines the word fiat as "A decree, order, or sanction " Issued by governments, it has value only because it is declared to be money by government decree, and because it is agreed to have value by all involved individauls, businesses and governments When a government issues too much fiat money, the value falls and inflation results Almost all currencies in the world today are fiat money not backed by silver or gold Thus, the story of modern economics is the story of many different currencies all inflating at different rates, with the U S dollar falling faster than most
Legal tender, especially paper currency, authorized by a government but not based on or convertible into gold or silver
Currency whose value is dictated by law, without being backed by precious metal(s) or specie of equivalent face value Examples include current US FRNs See also: fiduciary notes
Bank notes used as money to finance transactions (pay for things) which are not "backed" by a valuable commodity like gold or silver which could be exchanged against the note at a bank Fiat money is the only money used in the world today, but in the 19th century it was printed mainly to finance wars, because people didn't trust the government enough to forget the immense potential for abuse that this system had If a government wants to increase its expenditures without increasing taxes and without borrowing, it can just print money and pay with it This invariably leads to inflation