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The Evolution of Money

Page 40

by David Orrell


  anonymity, 205

  “Antonio” (fictional character), 64

  anxiety, 167

  apeiron. See Unlimited

  Apollo, 35, 106, 151

  Apple, 193, 210, 213–14

  Apple iTunes, 213

  Apple Pay, 213

  Aquinas, Thomas, 62–63, 72, 73

  Arabic number system, 57

  arbitrage, 59

  Ariely, Dan, 229

  Aristotle, 7, 10, 14, 15, 24, 29, 32, 33–34, 37, 48, 62, 78, 217, 246n14

  Arouet, François-Marie, 80–81, 100

  Arrow, Kenneth, 150–51, 152, 256n24

  Arrow–Debreu model, 150–51, 152, 153, 256n24

  Ars Amatoria (Ovid), 25

  art, 71

  Arte de Cambio, 63–64

  Asia, 20, 59, 64, 82

  Assange, Julian, 197

  assassination, 104

  asshole effect, 73, 77

  assignat. See French banknote

  Athens, Greece, 23

  Atticus, 25

  Auriti, Giacinto, 189

  Australia, 177–78

  Austria, 185, 186

  Axial Age, 22, 54, 56, 77

  Aztecs, 75, 76–77

  Babylonian empire, 22, 240n19

  Bagehot, Walter, 92, 113–14, 166

  Baghdad, Iraq, 17

  Banco Central do Brasil, 14

  BankAmericard, 109

  Bank and Currency Committee, 74

  bankers, 67, 68–71, 124, 249n46

  banker’s fee, 65

  Bank for International Settlements (BIS), 257n43

  Banking Department, 249n29

  banknotes, 56, 85, 99, 103, 249n26, 250n8; in Britain, 204; French, 250n6

  Bank of America, 109

  Bank of England, 68, 85–86, 91, 92–95, 98, 103, 110, 114, 215, 225, 239n5; on China, 254n25; vaults, 241n21

  Bank of France, 250n2

  Bank of United States, 103, 105

  Bank Rate and the Money Market in England, France, Germany, Holland, and Belgium 1844–1900 (Palgrave), 249n29

  bank runs, 92

  banks, 61, 113–14, 192, 202, 249n26, 250n9. See also private banks

  Banque générale, 99

  Banque royale, 99

  Barclaycard, 109

  Barclays Bank, 109, 193, 243n10

  Bardi, 66, 70–71

  barren tokens, 30

  bars, 11

  barter, 7, 11, 13, 14–15, 19, 28–30, 140; in Arrow-Debreu model, 150–51, 152; definition of, 12

  basic income, 178–79, 195

  bastard Keynesianism, 150

  Battle of Beachy Head, 85

  Baum, L. Frank, 90, 100

  Bavaria, Germany, 185

  BBC. See British Broadcasting Corporation

  BCA Research, 225

  Becker, Gary, 152

  behavior, 8, 72–73

  behavioral economists, 173–74

  Beijing, China, 223

  Belgium, 188

  Benes, Jaromir, 257n31

  Bentham, Jeremy, 142, 226

  Berlin, Germany, 208

  Bernal Buck, 187

  Bernanke, Ben, 112, 165, 177, 178

  Bernard (saint), 62

  Bernstein, Peter L., 252n45

  bezant, 26

  bias, 41

  Bible, 242n44

  bills of exchange, 65–66, 67–68, 159

  biosphere, 169

  BIS. See Bank for International Settlements

  BitAngels, 210

  “Bitcoin Open Source Implementation of P2P Currency” (Nakamoto), 196

  Bitcoins, 48, 50, 65, 236, 237, 264n5, 266n45; anonymity of, 205; audit, 210–13; as cash, 204–5; central control of, 159; China stopping, 203; creation of, 197–98; exchange rate of, 208; gold’s similarities with, 116–17, 205–8, 218; insider, 210–13; intrinsic value of, 205–6; mining, 199–200, 202, 208, 212; overview of, 197–208; scenarios, 213–15; as supercoin, 214; tokens, 192; tulip mania compared with, 163. See also blockchain

  Black Death, 70, 71

  black money, 59

  Blankfein, Lloyd, 124, 234

  blat. See graft networks

  Bloch, Marc, 246n6

  blockchain, 199–200, 201, 209–10, 212, 213, 215, 228; IBM using, 265n37; Mexico using, 265n36

  body, mind versus, 35–39

  Bohr, Niels, 48, 217

  Bollier, David, 231

  Bologna, Italy, 62

  Bonaparte, Napoleon, 100

  bonds (nomina), 24–25, 228

  Book of Calculation (Liber abaci), 57

  boom/bust cycle, credit, 164

  Boston College, 167

  Botticelli, Sandro, 71

  Boulding, Kenneth, 169, 170, 221

  Boyle, Mark, 227, 267n26

  bracteate, 69–70

  Brahe, Tycho, 78

  Brahmagupta, 57

  brain, 40–41, 73

  Brand, Stewart, 171

  Brazil, 77

  Breaking Bad, 102

  Bremmer, Ian, 126

  Bretton Woods conference, 106, 107, 161

  Bristol, England, 187

  British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), 21

  British Columbia, Canada, 187–88

  British East India Company, 83, 89

  British government, 181

  British Museum, 2, 20

  British Parliament, 101

  Browne, M. Neil, 120, 234

  Bruegel, 171

  Bryan, William Jennings, 90, 104, 207

  Brychta, Jaroslav, 214

  bubble, gold in, 161–63, 162

  Bubble Act, 91, 154

  buen vivir. See good living

  Bugia, Algeria, 57

  bullionism, 42

  Buonarroti, Michelangelo, 71

  Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 124

  Butler, Benjamin, 104

  buying, 246n7

  Caesar, 25, 242n44

  Calgary, Alberta, 187

  California, 78

  Campbell, Joseph, 121

  Canada, 93, 145, 146–47, 172, 185–88, 191

  Cantillon, Richard, 81

  Capital in the Twenty-First Century (Piketty), 156

  capitalism, 168–70

  Caring Relationship Tickets, 188

  caritas. See charity

  cash, 8, 22, 204–5

  Castronova, Edward, 39, 242n53

  cathedrals, 61, 68, 70

  Catholic Church, 58, 61, 66, 250n6

  CDOs. See collateralized debt obligations

  CDS. See credit default swap

  Cellorigo, Gonsalez de, 81

  Center for Responsive Politics, 124–25

  Central African Communauté financière d’Afrique (CFA) franc, 134–35

  central banks, 92–96, 110, 251n30, 257n43. See also Bank of England; Federal Reserve, U.S.

  Central Europe, 126, 249n46

  CEOs. See chief executive officers

  Cerro Rico, Peru, 77

  certified compensation bills, 185

  CFA franc. See Communauté financière d’Afrique franc

  charge card, 109

  charity (caritas), 62, 71–73, 235, 247n41

  Charlemagne (emperor), 59

  chartalism, 42–43, 217, 244n29

  Chaucer, Geoffrey, 59

  checks (sakk), 49, 56, 61

  CHF. See Swiss franc

  “Chicago Plan Revisited, The” (Benes and Kumhof), 257n31

  Chicago school of economics, 152–53

  chief executive officers (CEOs), 224–25

  China, 19, 22, 26, 64–65, 128, 193, 212, 223; accounts in, 60; Bank of England on, 254n25; Bitcoin stopped by, 203; debt, 119; digital currency contemplated by, 228; growth miracle, 119; hoarding in, 56; metal money in, 82; real estate market, 254n25; silver imported by, 82, 129. See also Hong Kong, China; yuan

  Christianity, 56, 61, 62–63, 64, 78

  Churchill, Winston, 106

  Cicero, 24–25, 26

  Circle, 210

  City B
ank of New York, 109

  City of London, 86, 95, 124–25

  Clanchy, Michael, 60

  Clarke, Stephen, 187

  Clenfield, Jason, 264n5

  clipping, 87–88

  Cocker, Mark, 77

  Coinage Act of 1792, 90

  coins, 11, 12, 19, 28, 32, 63; bezant, 26; black money, 59; clipping, 87–88; definition of, 103–5; denarius, 26; Greek, 20–21, 22, 23, 50; guinea, 88–90; Jefferson nickel, 38; Lydia, 20, 38; military using, 21–22, 24, 26; precious metal, 56, 75; property purchased with, 24; quantum, 45–48; quarters, 38; Roman, 25–26, 50; solidus, 26

  Cold War, 106, 151

  collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), 113, 114

  Colorado, 90

  Columbus, Christopher, 73, 75, 247n1

  Columna Maenia, 25

  commodities, 12, 20–21

  Communauté financière d’Afrique (CFA) franc, 134–35

  Communist Manifesto, The (Marx), 7

  Community Currencies in Action, 188

  companies, 8, 64

  competition, diversity driving, 158

  Connally, John, 128

  connections, 233

  conquistadors, 77–78, 116

  conspicuous consumption, 168

  Constantine, 26, 27

  Constitution, U.S., 104

  Continental Congress, 101

  Continentals, 101, 103

  Conway, Ed, 177

  Cooper, George, 239n5

  Copenhagen interpretation, 245n33

  Copernicus, 78, 80, 88, 144–45

  Copperfield, David, 58

  copyleft law, 230–31

  corporate money, 183–84, 190–93

  corruption, 125

  Cortés, Hernán, 75, 76–78

  cosmology, 78

  cotton capes (quachtli), 76

  counterfeiting, 48

  Courtenay, British Columbia, 187–88

  cowboy capitalism, 168–70, 221–22

  cowries, 19

  crafts, 64

  Crawford, Michael, 21

  Creative Commons licenses, 231

  credit, 24–25, 28–30, 48, 54, 133, 164

  credit card, 109

  credit default swap (CDS), 113

  Crimea, 134

  Crowther, Geoffrey, 13

  Crusades, 61

  “Crypto Anarchist Manifesto” (May), 203–4

  cryptocurrency. See Bitcoin

  Cuba, 75

  culture, 10, 100, 179, 232

  cuneiforms, 18, 42

  currencies, 32, 67–68; digital, 228, 231; as emerging, 216–19; as floating, 110; Germany influenced by, 185, 186; GFC influencing, 182–83; as local, 185–90; as main, 181–83; pan-Arab, 136; paper, 82, 84–86, 250n6; reference, 106; single, 181–83, 194; Torekes, 188; trading, 108–10; virtual, 39, 47, 55, 115. See also fiat currencies

  cybercurrencies, 29, 39, 67, 114–15, 171, 196–219. See also Bitcoin

  Cypherpunk movement, 197, 215

  Cyprus, 67, 202

  Czechoslovakia, 183

  Czech Republic, 79

  Daffara, Carlo, 230

  Darkcoin, 205

  Darwin, Charles, 158

  David Copperfield (Dickens), 58

  Davies, Glyn, 149, 248n16, 248n23, 249n32, 249n39

  da Vinci, Leonardo, 71

  Death of Money: The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System, The (Rickards), 252n36

  debasements, 69, 87–88

  deben. See grain

  debit card, 109

  Debreu, Gérard, 150–51, 152, 256n24

  debts, 18, 38, 56, 57, 137–38, 164; Chinese, 119; credit card, 109; cycle, 164–65; global, 119; as numerical, 170; as physical, 170; private, 112, 145, 147; public, 111–12

  Debt: The First 5000 Years (Graeber), 54, 245n38

  decision rules, 266n10

  Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, The (Gibbon), 28

  deficit, governments in, 111–12

  Del Mar, Alexander, 7

  Delphi, 22, 115

  Democritus, 217

  demonetization, 249n34

  denarius, 26, 46, 115, 241n35, 242n46

  Denationalisation of Money, The (Hayek), 149

  denationalized money, 194

  denier, 59

  Department of Defense, 151

  Department of Justice, U.S., 110

  derivatives, 110. See also collateralized debt obligation; credit default swap

  design, 222–28

  dessert, 258n65

  Deutsche Bank, 130

  DGSE models. See dynamic stochastic general equilibrium models

  Diabolus, 205

  Dialogue Concerning the Exchequer, The, 60

  Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems (Galileo), 74

  “Difference Between the Democritean and Epicurean Philosophy of Nature, The” (Marx), 97

  digital currency, 228, 231

  al-Dimashqi, Abu Ja’far, 11, 12

  Diners Club, 109

  Diocletian, 242n47

  Dionysius, 20

  diversity, 158, 193–95

  divorce, 166

  dollarization, 136, 231

  dollars, 43, 102, 106, 126–28, 136, 187; silver, 79, 79–80, 90, 249n32; Spanish, 100, 249n32

  Dostaler, Gilles, 143

  Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 9

  double-entry bookkeeping, 8, 57–58

  double-slit experiment, 217

  Douglas, C. H., 179

  Douglas, Niall, 120

  dowries, 52

  drachmae, 23

  Draghi, Mario, 133

  drugs, 198–99

  duality, 35–39

  ducat, 59

  duc d’Orléans, 98–100

  Dutch, 83, 91

  Dutot, Nicolas, 99

  dyad, 48

  Dyer, Geoff, 178–79

  Dyment, Ryan, 232

  dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DGSE) models, 153, 165

  Eagleton, Catherine, 250n7, 250n9

  Eastern Europe, 126

  East India Companies, 83

  EBRD. See European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

  ECB. See European Central Bank

  Eccles, Marriner, 112

  Economic Approach to Human Behavior, The (Becker), 152

  “Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren” (Keynes), 148, 223–24

  economics, 3, 29, 36, 171–75, 222, 224–27, 242n54, 247n41; biology, 157–60; definition of, 115–16; elite, 180; environmental, 266n9; number fascination of, 156–57; overview of, 139–43; physics as like, 217; prices in, 154; Scholastic, 62–63, 78, 80; U.S. influencing, 151–52. See also neoclassical economics

  Economics (Ragan and Lipsey), 14

  Economics (Samuelson), 13, 149

  Economists and the Powerful (Häring and Douglas), 120

  economy, 49–52, 221–22, 226

  EconTalk, 145

  ecosystems, 221–22

  écu, 59

  Ecuador, 231

  écu de marc, 65

  Edgeworth, Francis, 166, 221

  Edward III (king), 71

  efficiency, 153–54, 155, 156, 226

  Egypt, 19, 24, 241n28, 242n46

  Eichengreen, Barry, 130

  Eisenstein, Charles, 245n37

  electronic money, 108

  electrum, 20

  elite, 180

  Elizabeth I (queen), 82–83

  emergency money, 185

  emergent economy, 49–52

  emerging currency, 216–19

  Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 220

  emotions, 165–68

  England, 60, 62, 66, 68, 69, 187; mercantilism influencing, 82–83; silver crisis influencing, 86–88; South Sea Bubble influencing, 91; Spain invading, 81; unemployment benefit system influencing, 178–79. See also Bank of England; Henry VIII; London, England

  environment, 221–22, 223, 266n9

  Enz, Paul, 184

  Ephesus, 20

  Equal Dollars, 188

>   equilibrium, 258n53

  Eshnunna code, 241n25

  Ethereum, 209, 218, 233

  ethers, 209, 218

  ethics, 234

  euro, 3, 32–33, 116, 134–36, 189

  Euroasian Economic Commission, 135

  Europe, 33, 58, 59, 126, 230, 249n46

  European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), 135

  European Central Bank (ECB), 132–33, 165

  European Union (EU), 131–36, 133, 145, 171, 188

  eurozone, 114, 134–36, 194

  everything, theory of, 34–35

  Everything Card, 109

  Exchange, 25

  exchangers, 199

  exchanges, 140–41, 142, 208–9, 229, 246n24

  eye of providence, 121

  Facebook, 232

  Fama, Eugene, 153–54, 155, 156, 163, 216, 225

  Farmer, J. Doyne, 154

  Faust (Goethe), 100

  FBI. See Federal Bureau of Investigation

  FDIC. See Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

  fear, 115–16

  Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 199–200, 201

  Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), 251n17

  Federal Institute of Technology, 122, 123

  Federal Reserve, U.S., 17–18, 30, 42, 94, 105, 108, 241n21; founding of, 122; ownership of, 251n19. See also Bernanke, Ben; quantitative easing

  feedback loops, 160–65, 181

  Feldstein, Martin, 133

  Feller, Laurent, 246n7

  female principle, 37–38, 114–17

  Ferguson, George, 187

  feudalism, 58, 68, 246n6

  fiat currencies, 30, 39, 42, 97–117, 159, 169

  Fibonacci sequence, 57, 245n3

  finance, 126, 245n37, 267n27

  Finance Guard, 189

  Financial Conduct Authority, 243n10

  Financial History of Western Europe, A (Kindleberger), 246nn23–24, 247n1, 249n34, 249nn26–27, 250n2

  financial instability hypothesis, 164–65

  financial regulatory framework, 227

  Finney, Hal, 198

  First National Bank of New York, 122

  First World War, 96

  fiscal localism, 262n26

  fiscal policy, monetary policy as less important than, 148

  Fisher, Irving, 143–45, 185

  Fishman, Bob, 188

  floating currencies, 110

  FLOK. See Free-Libre, Open Knowledge

  Florence, Italy, 59, 64, 66, 70–71

  Florentine Codex (Sahagún), 76

  Florida, 198

  florin, 59

  Forde, Edward, 248n25

  forms, theory of, 37

  Fort Knox depository, 106

  Forum, 25

  Founding Fathers, 103

  fractional reserve system, 92–94, 110, 180, 245n37

  Fragment 22 (Heraclitus), 31

  France, 59, 61, 66, 69, 85, 96, 97, 98–100; CFA franc, 134–35; gold switched to by, 249n38; Normandy, 247n34; paper currencies used by, 250n6. See also Law, John; Paris, France

  Francis (saint), 72

  Franklin, Benjamin, 100, 101

 

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