bad money drives out good

Related to bad money drives out good: Bad money drives good money out of circulation

bad money drives out good

proverb The presence of counterfeit currency keeps genuine money out of circulation. Bad money drives out good. And that is what will happen if the value of gold keeps dropping.
See also: bad, drive, good, money, out
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

Bad money drives out good.

Prov. If there is counterfeit or inflated currency in circulation, people will hoard their genuine currency; worthless things will drive valuable things out of circulation. (This principle is also known as Gresham's Law.) When the government reduced the amount of copper in the pennies it produced, we saw that bad money drives out good; everyone saved copper pennies and only spent the less pure ones. Ever since cheap, flimsy furniture began to be manufactured in large quantities, it has been very difficult to find solid, well-made furniture. Bad craftsmanship, like bad money, drives out good.
See also: bad, drive, good, money, out
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • funny money
  • good accounting makes good friends
  • better a dollar earned than ten inherited
  • can't take it with you
  • (you) can't take it with you (when you go)
  • for a while
  • color of someone's money, see the
  • come into (some) money
  • come into money
  • be (right) on the money