Essay response to an IELTS Task 2 question seen in Paris, France

There are many things that motivate a person to work, but money is the most compelling.  In your opinion, how influential is the power of money?

People the world over come from different circumstances and work for different reasons.  Although many may have alternative sources of motivation for the work that they do, money is thought to be among the most stimulating forces in the world.  This will be proven by looking at how financial gain can force a person to engage in professions that are both unpleasant and, in some instances, fundamentally irrational.

For one, many people around the world engage in jobs they do not enjoy simply because they want money.  For example, hundreds of millions of people do manufacturing work across the developing world.  As this kind of labour is often tiring, dangerous and even degrading in some circumstances, it is easy to see that the only thing motivating these people to engage in this work is monetary compensation.  As this shows, the power and influence of money is difficult to underestimate.

In addition to this, monetary reward can even compel people to do jobs that are irrational and self-defeating.  For example, the decisions made by individuals working in the American financial district prior to the crisis of 2008 were damaging to the world’s economic stability.  Were personal financial gain to be taken away from the overall equation, it is doubtful any of these same devastating financial decisions would have been made.  Thus, the extreme motivational power of money can be seen.

As the above shows, money holds an authority over the decisions and career directions of most people.  It therefore must be concluded that money acts as one of the world’s most influential forces, and this is a phenomenon that is not expected to change anytime soon.