The Nature of Money
What money is, where it came from, and what it was always designed to do
Money is not a neutral technology that markets discovered. It is a social institution -- a set of enforceable claims that evolved alongside states, armies, and courts. Understanding what money actually is requires clearing away several centuries of mythology about what it was supposed to be.
The Myth of Barter
Every economics textbook begins with a story of barter that anthropologists cannot find in the historical record.
Stored Labor
If money represents a claim on future labor, its distribution becomes a question of power, not just efficiency.
Commodity Money
Gold and silver carried value because states said they did -- a lesson that later became inconvenient to remember.
Coinage and the State
The moment a sovereign stamps a face on metal, money becomes politics by other means.
Paper Money
Paper money is a promise. What distinguishes the promise of a state from that of a counterfeiter is an army.
Credit and Debt
Debt may be older than money itself -- and its moral weight has been used to discipline entire populations.