From Bruce: "You commonly refer to "moneyness" in your columns. Wikipedia defines it as
"In finance, moneyness is the relative position of the current price (or future price) of an underlying asset (e.g., a stock) with respect to the strike price of a derivative, most commonly a call option or a put option."
Is that the sense in which you are using the term, or do you have another definition?"
CBB response: I stress that contemporary money rests upon perceptions of safety and liquidity. Money is something that folks believe is a safe and liquid store of (nominal) value. This perception essentially creates unlimited demand - with all the associated issues (over issuance! and the myriad effects of monetary inflation). "Moneyness" is a perceived attribute of safety and liquidity (typically from government assurances/support) that creates a degree of extraordinary and self-reinforcing demand - especially for risk assets (stocks, fixed-income, derivatives) Moneyness is fundamental to credit and market bubbles. Bubbles falter when the marketplace inevitably questions (perceptions shift) the safety and liquidity of the underlying credit and financial instruments.