I recently re-read (or rather, re-listened to the book on CD) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. One of the great speeches in that book, which I actually hadn’t remembered, is the speech from Francisco d’Anconia debating the argument that money is the root of all evil. It’s reproduced here and here. Worth a read.

“So you think that money is the root of all evil?” said Francisco d’Anconia. “Have you ever asked what is the root of money? Money is a tool of exchange, which can’t exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them. Money is the material shape of the principle that men who wish to deal with one another must deal by trade and give value for value. Money is not the tool of the moochers, who claim your product by tears, or of the looters, who take it from you by force. Money is made possible only by the men who produce. Is this what you consider evil?