That principle might be subtle, but is critical. All transactions are promises to deliver value. Consideration conveyed. The dollar is a figment of our imagination. It has value only through its historical use at particular prices. It is inherently worthless, but history and contracts maintain the value.
My recommendation to the US Treasury is to dissolve the Fed, kill bonds, add up all the existing contracts to determine how many dollar digits are in the world, keep those digits constant, and peg them to some form of tangible value. That could be gold, silver, land, or perhaps real exports. Since the dollar is the world's reserve currency, the economy would grow quickly and dramatically.
