Sapiensby Parker on TwosCapitalism is the force behind the rise of science, technology, and knowledge. All of these steps come from businessmen seeking to make moneyMoney has been essential for building empires and for promoting scienceToday, every man, woman, and child produces, on the average, $8,800 a yearBanks are allowed to load $10 for every dollar they actually possess, which means that 90 per cent of all the money in our bank accounts is not covered by actual coins and notesWhat enables banks and the entire economy to survive and flourish is our trust in the future. This trust is the sole backing for most of the money in the worldCredit is imaginary goods, goods that do not exist in the present. It enables us to build the present at the expense of the future. It's founded on the assumption that our future resources are sure to be far more abundant than our present resourcesCredit is the difference between today's pie and tomorrow's pieThe idea of progress is built on the notion that if we admit our ignorance and invest resources in research, things can improveOver the last 500 years the idea of progress convinced people to put more and more trust in the future. This trust created credit; credit brought real economic growth; and growth strengthened the trust in the future and opened the way for even more credit