Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2014 February 7

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February 7

Ocean City, Md. sonic boom/earthquake

What was the magnitude of the pseudoquake, is it on USGS?86.52.12.101 (talk) 12:31, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Here are the results of a search for "Maryland" at the USGS web site. I don't see anything about any recent quakes but maybe it will help you out. Also, it might help if you gave us some context. Was there a quake recently? I haven't seen anything in the news recently and, due to the fact that many people here like me are not near Maryland either, it would help if you told us what quake you are referring to. Dismas|^(talk) 13:13, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Mysterious tremors caused by sonic boom. "I felt a little shake. I was in the shower when it happened,” a man said.... “I thought it was a sonic boom because we get those around here all the time,” another man said."--Shantavira|^{feed me} 14:07, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Edo state library board — Preceding unsigned comment added by 105.112.8.18 (talk) 14:45, 7 February 2014 (UTC) its int the news — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pubserv (talk • contribs) 15:46, 7 February 2014 (UTC) is trhat vanbdalism? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Pubserv (talk • contribs) 15:50, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

1991 Nissan President

Hello, I have read the Wikipedia information regarding the Nissan President. It was very informative. The one piece of information that I have been looking for, and have not been able to find, despite exhausting all other avenues, is this: How many right hand drive Nissan President cars were built in 1991? Please advise. Thank You Ali Ishmail Vancouver Canada — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.103.96.11 (talk) 17:20, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

What if one person got all the money in the world?

After reading a recent Donald Duck comic story where a criminal tries to steal all the money in Duckburg, I got to wonder: What would happen if one person got all the money in the world? My instinct reply was that this would cause money to become meaningless, it would no longer work as a trade medium. But is this correct, and if so, then why? JIP | Talk 17:50, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Thats the 2nd donald duck question here in short time.--Pubserv (talk) 18:00, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

First, define "money". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:12, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

In the Donald Duck story, it only meant cash, but in this question, I'm defining money as all kinds of officially tradeable currency in the world, regardless of whether it is in cash or electronic form. JIP | Talk 18:16, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

• If it were fiat money, the rest of the people could simply start there own currency, refuse to accept the old paper money, and he would be screwed. If it were all silver or gold coin, or other hard currency, he would have a pretty pile of silver or gold that wouldn't do him any good unless others wanted to trade for it, in which case they would receive money. The scenario is based on a bunch of false premises about money, basically treating it like it's some sort of magical substance whose origin no one knows. That's fine for people who operate on a grammar school level, but it's problematic when you get into savings, investment, and political economics. μηδείς (talk) 18:14, 7 February 2014 (UTC)
  • That's pretty much what I was thinking, at least for fiat money. JIP | Talk 18:19, 7 February 2014 (UTC)
    • As an example, Roman coins were presumably valuable as money in their day. They may be valuable now as collectibles, but not as legal tender, as such. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:42, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Roman coins still retain their inherent industrial value as silver, copper or gold, though, regardless of sentiment. Paper has almost no intrinsic value. μηδείς (talk) 19:15, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Money supply "has to" be maintained so they would print more. This is basically what the argument was over silver vs gold in the late 1800s. See: Coinage Act of 1873 Raquel Baranow (talk) 19:21, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Isn't this question the ultimate hypothetical, and a classic case of invitation to speculate and debate? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:45, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

It's technically hypothetical, but it's a very standard FAQ type Economics 101 question that has answers that are actual hard answers, not debate. Of course there's a lot of ignorance and nonsense, but you won't see me addressing that at length as if it were debatable. μηδείς (talk) 21:43, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Why can't those "hard answers" be provided, then? I see nothing but personal commentary above. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 21:56, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

rofl.... Jack... you act like this is the first time you've seen a hypothetical, unanswerable, or trolltastic question at the reference desk. This question is probably on the extreme low end of that spectrum. It's hilarious that you take this as the opportunity to make your stand against such questions. Shadowjams (talk) 22:05, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

So you see one person gaining possession of all the money in the world as only juuust beyond the extremes of possibility? Really? What's the name of the planet you live on? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:31, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

This is simply a variation on cornering the market which is a very standard notion in economics, even if it never happens. Kind of like the dreams of Marxism. Well documented, and totally non-existent. μηδείς (talk) 22:43, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

I rest my case. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 23:20, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

Fiat money, hard currency. If you want the long answer, see capitalism.net or download the college textbook in pdf form at http://capitalism.net/Capitalism/CAPITALISM_Internet.pdf. μηδείς (talk) 22:02, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

• This podcast is now about 5 years old, but I bring it up a lot for questions like this. It does a surprisingly good job of explaining issues of global finance, and specifically addresses what "All the money in the world" really means. --Jayron32 06:15, 8 February 2014 (UTC)

• If the person who had all the money was willing to lend it at a low rate of interest, then a viable economy would still be possible. That's how central banks such as the US Federal Reserve function: they create money, and lend it out. The loans need to be repaid eventually, but the process still allows money to circulate. Looie496 (talk) 23:08, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

That's a bit equivocal, Looie, since central banks like the Federal Reserve nowadays are parasitical on the fact that there was originally a hard currency economy, which they replaced by fiat money by legislative chicanery. You can't just go in and start a paper economy from scratch; it has to be pegged to something of pre-existing value. If someone were to acquire all the paper money, it would cease to have any real value except as paper, and there'd be no reason to accept it, unless the person who cornered the market would also back up his notes in some commodity. μηδείς (talk) 23:17, 9 February 2014 (UTC)

If any single person owned all the money in the world, it would immediately become completely worthless, because people would immediately start to use a bartering system to do business in goods or services - simply because they don't have any money. Money didn't always exist, you know. KägeTorä - (影虎) (TALK) 02:14, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

That's true, to a point. But the only thing stopping the production of private currencies even now is that it is outlawed. What would actually happen assuming lack of government force used against it (and even then there would be a black market) would be banks and other institutions offering notes redeemable in some valuable commodity, or even stock certificates would be used as money. Cash is always more valuable than an equivalent in goods. Would you rather have $100 cash for Christmas, or $100 worth of fruit, cheese and wine baskets? Money in the form of sheep hides and cowrie shells and bushels of corn has existed since the beginning of civilization. μηδείς (talk) 02:42, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

PS I was doing some IT work on the side for an elderly client yesterday, and warned her that I wanted to empty her cache. That didn't go over very well, until she asked, do you mean cache as in the French spelling? μηδείς (talk) 03:20, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

Request to delete old user pages

I have 2 pages that I am no longer using. Can I have them deleted , please? Because I no longer have access to them. They are as follows: Lateisha Kelley and Kelleyllateisha. I would like to have the pages purged . — Preceding unsigned comment added by Lateisha Meyers (talk • contribs) 19:48, 7 February 2014 (UTC)

Hi, Lateisha. Anone can blank their old user pages just by editing them and deleting everything before saving. If you need information removed entirely for a special reason, you should read WP:REVDEL and follow the instructions about emailing an admin. Right now Kelleyllateisha is deleted, and Lateisha Kelley is blank. In the future, this is not the right place to leave such requests for help. Do that at the help desk WP:HELP, not the reference desks. Here we look up sources for people. μηδείς (talk) 21:39, 7 February 2014 (UTC)