How, why and is money actually "finite"?

[Lyev]

You cannot create wealth out of thin air. The wealth that society as a whole produces is finite...a dollar in your pocket means a dollar less in someone else's pocket. Behind every rich person stand hundreds or thousands or even millions of poor people...losers in the capitalist casino.

The title says it all really. I was browsing learning and found this by redstar who sadly no longer posts. Why, how and is money actually "finite"? Because such a bold claim immediately refutes a lot of anti-socialist, pro-capitalism sentiment. Thanks comrades, I look forward to your replies.

By the way, I started a whole new thread for this and didn't post in the existing high-school commie guide because I think the topic merits a discussion all on its own :)

[Os Cangaceiros]

Because if there was an infinite amount of money it would have no value, and therefore not be money?

That would be my guess.

[CartCollector]

Because if there was an infinite amount of money it would have no value, and therefore not be money?

That would be my guess.

That's right. Fiat money (money that isn't backed by a physical commodity like gold or silver) is valuable only because of its scarcity. If it was legal to counterfeit dollars, and there was a cheap machine that everyone could use to make dollars, then eventually the dollar wouldn't be used as currency because anyone could print as many as they want. It would be worthless as money.

[chegitz guevara]

The money only has value in that it is backed by the state. If the state collapsed, the money would have no value. Most fiat money isn't even in the form of actual bills. It simply exists as electronic data.

[MarxSchmarx]

Simple materialism - money is a means of exchange. The means of exhange are ultimately physical quantitites. There is a finite amount of physical quantities in the universe. Thefore money must be finite.

Quad era demonstratum.

[Lyev]

I see, thanks for the responses comrades.

Any rebuttals to this though?

Good stuff except for the bit about a dollar in one person's pocket equalling a dollar out of someone else's pocket. We don't live in a zero-sum economy and that simply isn't true.