Question

n the late​ 1940s, the Communists under Mao Zedong were defeating the government of China in a civil war. The paper currency issued by the Chinese government was losing much of its​ value, and most businesses refused to accept it. At the same​ time, there was a paper shortage in Japan. During these​ years, Japan was still under military occupation by the United States. Some U.S. troops in Japan realized that they could use dollars to buy up vast amounts of paper currency in​ China, ship it to Japan to be recycled into​ paper, and make a substantial profit. Under these​ circumstances, was the Chinese paper currency a commodity moneyLOADING... or a fiat moneyLOADING...​?

Answer 1

commodity money

Step-by-step explanation:

Fiat money refers to currency that has intrinsic value because a government backs it up, e.g. the US dollar is backed by the US government. In this case, the Chinese government was not able to back its own currency.

Commodity money refers to currency that gets its value form the materials that make it, e.g. Chinese currency was worth its weight on paper, since it was sold as paper. Other types of commodity money were cigarettes in prisons or gold coins.