Capitalism and our moment in the history of money (original) (raw)
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Modern Money and the Rise and Fall of Capitalist Finance
Modern Money and the Rise and Fall of Capitalist Finance Modern Money and the Rise and Fall of Capitalist Finance examines the true nature of modern money and seeks ideas for an alternative economic system for a just society. This book suggests that adopting the ideas and institutions of a trust allowed personae to be combined with creditor-debtor relations and, by doing so, led to the evolution of modern money. This also helps explain why modern banking arose in England rather than continental Europe, by conceptualizing modern money as a trust and investigating the inseparable relationship between personae and modern money, because it is more than creditor-debtor relations-it takes the form of a trust. In explaining how the capitalist credit-money economy differs from previous economies, this book is a significant contribution to the literature on modern money, heterodox economics, and the philosophy of economics and finance. Jongchul Kim has critically examined the modern concepts of "person" and "property" and applied this critique to an understanding of money and finance. He is currently an associate professor
This paper contends that political economy may profit from an understanding of money that is both able to account for its systemic importance as well as money's specific role for the contemporary distribution of wealth. 'Money-ness' is a strategic factor in profit-making and capital accumulation. If we accord moneyness to all those instruments that make the repackaging of credit and other financial assets and liabilities and their capitalization possible, we arrive at an understanding of money that underscores the Marxian analysis of the structural importance of the money relation for capital accumulation that is up to speed with current financial innovations. As a social structure and process, moneymaking through capital permeates society. As a public-private deal between the state, rentiers, banks, and taxpayers that has existed since the foundation of the Bank of England in 1694, it binds these actors together in shifting relations of dependence. Under financial capitalism today, what counts as money and how far moneyness stretches into the realms of financial innovation has been a core object of struggle in the public-private deal of money creation.
Money in the making of world society
Market and Society (Cambridge University Press), 2009
We are living in another one-world moment like Magellan’s. I seek to throw light on this moment in history, first by examining Polanyi’s analysis of the part played by money in “the great transformation” of the nineteenth century and in the disaster that followed from it (1914–1945). My own version takes off from Polanyi’s emphasis, even as it differs from his – of “the long twentieth century” going back to the revolutions of the 1860s. From this I develop some general arguments concerning money’s role in a “human economy,” a concept that Polanyi sometimes referred to. I end with some remarks about the political lessons to be gained from revisiting The Great Transformation (1944) today.
Money in the making of world society: Inaugural lecture
Goldsmiths, University of London, 2007
I will talk today about people, machines, and money. This, in a reduced form, is the project that I take from Marx. He found that under Victorian capitalism, working people were tied to machines in the new factories and subordinated to the power of big money. He and Engels thought that this order of social organization—giving priority to money which bought the machines and thereby controlling the workers—ought to be reversed. In a broad sense, this is my political project and my writing project too. My lecture has three sections: first on machines, then on money and finally on the emergent world society that humanity is now making.
What Money Does: An Inquiry Into the Backbone of Capitalist Political Economy
2017
The theory and critique of capitalism is back at the center of scholarly debate. With it comes a growing awareness of the analytical and political importance of money and money creation. Moving from the more systemic reflections of Karl Marx to more recent work on money theory by Geoffrey Ingham and in financial economics, the paper focuses on three of money's "deeds." As a social structure and process, it makes moneymaking through capital permeate all our societies. As a public-private partnership between the state, rentiers, banks, and taxpayers that has existed since the foundation of the Bank of England in 1694, it binds these actors together in shifting relations of dependence. In today's financial capitalism, what counts as money and how far moneyness stretches into the realms of financial innovation has been the core object of struggle in the public-private partnership of money. In conclusion, the paper discusses how contemporary money redistributes intra-so...
Book Introduction: Modern Money and the Rise and Fall of Capitalist Finance
Routledge, 2023
In a given era, social scientists often share a common philosophical perspective, whether overtly or implicitly, despite studying different subjects. However, what if the prevailing perspective among conventional economists proves problematic, preventing them from providing a comprehensive understanding of the capitalist financial system? In modern Western philosophy, conventional economics is built upon two central concepts: person and property. Surprisingly, there is no academic exploration of how these concepts form the essence of modern money. This absence of theoretical inquiry limits our comprehensive understanding of the true nature of modern money. For instance, the credit theory of money, gaining popularity among heterodox scholars, argues that money is credit, representing creditor-debtor relations. Unfortunately, this theory overlooks the distinct nature of capitalist creditor-debtor relations, which differ from their pre-modern form. While creditor-debtor relations have existed for millennia, their prevalence in modern times is unprecedented. What factors have contributed to their widespread occurrence? How do they differ from pre-capitalist forms? This book asserts that modern money goes beyond mere creditor-debtor relations, It argues that modern money emerges as a combination of creditordebtor relations with three personae-the modern state, business corporations, and individualism-and a combination of creditor-debtor relations with property. These combinations are referred to as a trust. Legal textbooks provide two definitions of a trust. The first definition states that a trust is a double-ownership that makes it possible for
Towards a Marxian Theory of World Money
Marx's Theory of Money
In Financial Markets, Money and the Real World Paul Davidson, a leading Post Keynesian economist, adds his voice to calls for reform of the 'international financial architecture'. Unlike almost all other reformers, however, Davidson's proposals center on a new form of world money. While Davidson's proposals have little chance of being adopted, they are based on an accurate assessment of the weaknesses of neoliberal theory. And they powerfully express the deep utopian drive to imagine a form of capitalism capable of fulfilling its unmet promises. I argue that Davidson's account of world money fails to take into account crucial aspects of the social relations defining capitalism: value relations, capital/wage labor relations, inter-capital relations, interstate relations, and the relations constituting the world market.
Capitalism, Money and Inequality in the World
Transitioning to Reduced Inequalities, 2023
Is gross inequality rooted in human nature or is it the result of certain ways of organizing society and certain policy choices regarding the human economy? While it cannot possibly canvass the enormous literature on capitalism, money and inequality, this chapter will suggest that it is the latter by considering the important relationship between capitalism and money to explain the persistence of economic inequality in our world.