In 2140, when celebrating the first block with a zero subsidy, we'll have a hard time talking to the kids after a visit to the history museum: 

"Daddy, what is fiat money?"

"There used to be a time when the world had 180 currencies, each one of them printed with zero effort whenever a government would need to pay a bill. 

Every nation state had its own little set of banknotes with individual coloring schemes and cute logos. That made them very proud.

The emission schedule was  unpredictable with a potentially infinite supply. The purchasing power of each currency was always going down, just at different speeds. 

Each currency could be used only within defined geographic zones.

Exchange rates between those currencies was volatile and used to change every second, which made trade risky and complicated.

People were encouraged to spend their money instead of saving it, even it that involved getting into debt."

"Daddy, that sounds really retarded. Why was it like that?"

"I really don't know. Serious people at the time used to think it was actually a good system. Let's ask grand-dad. His grand-dad used to be alive then. Maybe he can explain us."