The Evolution of Money

by David Orrell

  Free-Libre, Open Knowledge (FLOK), 231

  French banknote (assignat), 250n6

  frequent-flier program, 190

  Friedman, Milton, 107, 144–45, 152, 178, 196, 199

  “Full Interview on Anti-trust and Tech” (Friedman), 196

  full-reserve banking, 181

  fuzzy logic, 48

  Gaddafi, Muammar, 21

  Gaia theory, 160–61

  Galbraith, John Kenneth, 31, 95, 97, 105, 107–8, 249n39, 250n7, 251n17, 251n21

  Galileo, 74, 78

  games, 29, 83, 242n53

  Gaul, 25

  GCC. See Gulf Cooperation Council

  GDP. See gross domestic product

  Geanakoplos, John, 154

  gender, 114–17

  general public license (GPL), 230–31

  Genoa, Italy, 64

  Geoffrey Madan’s Notebooks (Gere and Sparrow), 249n29

  Gere, J. A., 249n29

  Germany, 81–82, 102, 202, 208, 225; credit growth in, 133; currency influencing, 185, 186. See also ordoliberalism

  Gessel, Silvio, 70, 185

  geuro, 183

  GFC. See Great Financial Crisis

  Ghent, Belgium, 188

  Gibbon, Edward, 28

  gifts, 76; certificate, 8; economies, 10, 72, 229–30, 231–32, 233, 234

  giving, 228–32

  global debt, 119

  Global Financial Stability Reports, 120

  Global Freecycle Network, 229–30

  global supply chains, 28

  Glover, Paul, 186–87

  God, 62, 72, 78, 121, 124

  Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von, 100

  gold, 11, 17–18, 19, 54, 59, 75, 76–78, 241n28, 244n31, 247n1; Bitcoin’s similarities with, 116–17, 205–8, 218; in bubble, 161–63, 162; card, 109; France switching to, 249n38; hoarding, 82; Libyan, 21; price of, 161–63, 162, 242n46, 243n10; silver bought by, 89; Smith on, 266n45; supply, 241n21; U.S. as on, 249n38; window, 108

  golden chervonet, 182

  Goldman Sachs, 123–24, 125, 155, 210, 212, 232

  gold standard, 88–90, 95–96, 105–8, 114, 116, 172, 252n45; euro compared with, 133; return on, 251n21

  good living (buen vivir), 231

  Google, 214

  Gottesdiener, Laura, 169, 259n79

  governments, 111–12, 228

  GPL. See general public license

  Graeber, David, 44, 54, 242n54, 244n27, 245n38

  graft networks (blat), 233

  grain (deben), 19

  Great Britain, 8, 59, 122, 193, 198, 225, 259n83; banknotes in, 204; inflation, 145

  Great Depression, 8, 106, 144, 185–86, 249n46

  greatest happiness principle, 226

  Great Financial Crisis (GFC), 2–3, 108, 113–14, 116, 194, 197, 225, 233, 234; Australia responding to, 177–78; Central Europe in, 126; currencies influenced by, 182–83; Eastern Europe in, 126; models influencing, 155–56; NINJA borrower of, 164

  Great Fire of 1834, The, 60

  Greece, 9, 20–21, 22, 23, 28, 33–37, 50, 77, 227; credit growth in, 133; EU’s negotiations with, 133; IOUs issued by, 183; local currency resurgence in, 186

  greed, 115–16

  Greeks, 57, 62, 114, 115

  Greenback Labor Party, 104

  greenbacks, 104, 180

  Greenspan, Alan, 105, 116, 155, 216

  Gresham, Thomas, 249n31

  Gresham’s law, 88

  Grexit crisis, 116

  Gross, Bill, 120

  gross domestic product (GDP), 167

  groupthink, 124

  growth, 226

  Guardiagrele, Italy, 189

  Guide to the Merits of Commerce and to Recognition of Both Fine and Defective Merchandise and the Swindles of Those Who Deal Dishonestly, A (al-Dimashqi), 10–11

  guilds, 64

  guinea coin, 88–90

  Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), 135–36

  Gutenberg, Johannes, 19

  Guthrie, W. K. C., 35

  Ha-Joon Chang, 156, 157

  Haldane, Andrew, 153

  Hamilton, Alexander, 103

  Hammurabi code, 241n25

  Hanyecz, Laszlo, 198

  happiness, 3, 142, 165–68

  hard money, 28–30

  Häring, Norbert, 120

  harmonies, 34–35

  Harper, F. A., 10

  Harrington, Keith, 172

  Hart, K., 243n8

  Hayek, Friedrich, 149, 194

  heads, 38, 243n8

  Hearn, Mike, 211

  Heckman, James, 155

  hedonometer, 166

  Henry I (king), 60

  Henry VIII (king), 69, 78

  Heraclitus, 31, 34

  Hercules, 22

  herd mentality, 166

  Herodotus, 20, 52

  High Middle Ages, 72, 234–35

  Hirsch, Todd, 29

  History of Monetary Systems (Del Mar), 7

  History of Money: From Ancient Times to the Present Day, A (Davies), 248n16, 249n32, 249n39

  hoarding, 56, 82

  Hobbes, Thomas, 215

  Hodges Genuine Bank Notes of America, 103

  Holland, 81–82

  Honduras, 209–10

  Hong Kong, China, 194

  House of Lords, 60

  House of Morgan, 122

  House of Representatives, U.S., 74, 104

  hryvnia, 134

  Hudson’s Bay Company, 12

  Hu Jintao, 129

  Hume, David, 144, 240n3

  Humphrey, Caroline, 15

  Hureai Kippu, 188

  hybridity, 132

  hyperinflation, 96, 101–3, 249n46, 250n7

  Iamblichus, 34

  IBM. See International Business Machines

  Iceland, 181

  imagined communities, 134

  IMF. See International Monetary Fund

  immaterial monism, 34–35

  Incas, 75

  India, 22, 26, 56, 89

  Indians. See Native Americans

  Industrial Age, 237

  Industrial Revolution, 8, 94

  Inferno (Alighieri), 63

  inflation, 78, 80, 82, 87, 145, 248n16, 249n46

  information, 170–71

  Information Awareness Office, 121

  Ingham, Geoffrey, 29

  inheritance, 224

  Innes, A. Mitchell, 55

  Inquiry into the Principles of Political Oeconomy, An (Steuart), 83–84

  Inside Job, 152

  Institutional Risk Analytics, 123

  insurance contract, 246n20

  intellectuals, 62

  interbank interest rate, 110

  interest (máš), 18, 38, 110, 111; as negative, 70, 184–86, 228; rate, 241n25

  International Business Machines (IBM), 265n37

  International Monetary Fund (IMF), 3, 21, 108, 120, 130, 182, 231, 240n14

  Internet, 230, 233

  Internet of Things, 210

  intrinsic value, 86–88, 153–54, 205–6

  inventions, 19

  invisible hand, 141, 161, 223, 234, 255n2, 266n9

  I owe yous (IOUs), 67, 127, 183, 245n38

  iPhone, 193

  Iraq, 16–17

  Ireland, 113

  Islam, 56–57, 116

  Israel, 61

  Italy, 35, 56, 59, 81–82, 189, 242n42. See also Florence, Italy; Genoa, Italy; Venice, Italy

  Ithaca Hours, 186–87

  Jackson, Andrew, 103

  Japan, 178, 188, 189, 194, 203

  Jaspers, Karl, 22

  Jefferson, Thomas, 38, 90, 104

  Jerusalem, Israel, 61

  Jesus, 23

  Jevons, William Stanley, 11–12, 15, 19, 20, 141–42, 163, 172, 233, 269n45

  Joachimsthal, Czech Republic, 79

  jobs, 171

  Joshi, Dhaval, 225

  JP Morgan, 123, 193, 210, 232

  Jubilee, 18, 263n41

  Judas, 23

  Judea, 22


  Juno Moneta, 24, 115

  just price, 62–63, 72, 78, 80, 234, 236

  Kahneman, Daniel, 166, 167

  Kashkari, Neel, 123

  Keen, Steve, 165, 257n31, 258n60, 263n41

  Kelly, Brian, 214

  Kelton, Stephanie, 30

  Kelvin (lord), 40

  Kennedy, Joseph, 123

  Keynes, John Maynard, 15, 106, 148–50, 223–24, 256n21

  Key to Wealth, or, a New Way for Improving of Trade: Lawfull, Easie, Safe and Effectual, The, 84

  Khanna, Parag, 131, 183

  Kindleberger, Charles Poor, 246nn23–24, 247n1, 249n34, 249nn26–27, 250n2

  King, Mervyn, 30, 150

  King of Siam, 15

  King of Wu, 32

  Kirman, Alan, 153

  Klein, Naomi, 222, 256n27

  Knapp, Georg Friedrich, 42–43, 216, 244n29

  Knight, Frank, 181

  knights, 61, 68

  Knutson, Brian, 41

  Kocherlakota, Narayana R., 30

  Kohl, Helmut, 132

  Kolbert, C. F., 28

  koruna, 183

  Kreider, Tim, 10

  Kreuzberg, Germany, 208

  Krugman, Paul, 165, 266n45

  Kublai Khan, 64–65

  Kuhns, 122

  Kumhof, Michael, 257n31

  Kuwabatake Sanjuro, 199

  labor, 140–41, 187–88, 218, 242n44

  land, 58

  Latvia, 134

  Laurium, 23

  law (nomos), 27–28, 246n14

  Law, John, 91–92, 97, 107, 113, 148, 215

  law of supply and demand, 89

  Laws of Eshnunna, 17

  Laynez, Diego, 67

  League of Nations, 131

  left hemisphere, 9, 40–41

  Legal Tender Act, 103–4

  legionary, 242n44

  Le Goff, Jacques, 63, 71

  Lehman Brothers, 178

  lender of last resort, 92–96, 113–14

  LETS. See Local Exchange Trading System

  Levitt, Arthur, 124

  Lewis, Nathan, 194

  Liber abaci. See Book of Calculation

  liberty, 9

  Libor. See London Interbank Offered Rate

  libra. See pound

  Libya, 21

  Lietaer, Bernard, 44, 116, 169, 176, 188, 194, 252n45

  light, 217

  Limited (peiron), 35

  Lincoln, Abraham, 100, 103–4, 122. See also greenbacks

  Linton, Michael, 187–88

  Lipsey, Richard, 14

  lira, 189

  Lithuania, 132

  Liu, Jack, 192

  livre, 59

  loans, 111, 114, 241n24

  lobbying, 124–25

  local currencies, 185–90

  Local Exchange Trading System (LETS), 187–88

  Locke, John, 87–88, 98–99, 140–41

  Loebs, 122

  logging camps, 8

  logic, 9

  London, England, 86, 95

  London Gold Fixing, 39

  London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), 149

  lottery, 10, 85

  Louisiana, 100

  Louis IX (king), 59

  Louis XIV (king), 98

  Louis XV (king), 98

  Lovelock, James, 160–61

  loyalty programs, 190–91

  lubricant in exchange, 10, 29–30

  Lucas, Robert, 152, 156

  Lucke, Bernd, 183

  Luyendijk, Joris, 124, 125, 182

  Lydia, 2, 20, 38, 52

  Lyon, France, 66

  Madan, Geoffrey, 249n29

  Made Beaver, 12

  main currency, 181–83

  Maine, 105

  male principle, 37–38, 114–17

  Manchester University, 172–73

  Mandelbrot, Benoit, 37

  Manhattan, New York City, New York, 17–18

  Mantega, Guido, 128

  Maria Theresa thaler, 79

  Maris, Bernard, 143

  marketers, 166

  market exchanges, 229

  markets, 13, 22, 153–54, 155, 156

  market value, 46–47

  married couples, 165–66

  Marshall, Alfred, 40, 157

  Martin, Felix, 44

  Marx, Karl, 7, 68, 97, 141

  Massachusetts Bay Colony, 100–101

  MasterCard, 109

  material monism, 34

  mathematics, 9, 56–57, 78

  Matthew 20:2, 242n44

  Ma Twan-lin, 95

  Maximinus, 242n44

  May, Tim, 203–4

  Mayans, 75

  Mayer, Thomas, 183

  Mayweather, Floyd, Jr., 232

  McCaleb, Jed, 203

  McGee, Alan, 178–79

  McGilchrist, Iain, 40–41, 121

  McKinsey Global Institute, 119

  McLeay, Michael, 94

  McLuhan, Marshall, 1, 45, 100, 176, 179, 238, 256n13

  McNamara, Frank, 109

  media, 256n13

  Medicis, 71, 75

  Medium is the Massage, The (McLuhan), 176

  medium of exchange, 3, 8–9, 42, 43, 159, 165

  medium-sized businesses, 184

  memory, 30

  Menger, Carl, 13, 29, 141–42

  “Mephisto” (fictional character), 100

  mercantilism, 82–84

  Merchant of Venice, The (Shakespeare), 64

  Mesopotamia, 20, 22, 28, 39, 42, 56, 241n24; overview of, 15–18; primary creditor, 67

  message, 235–38

  metal, 77, 82, 140, 161, 248n25

  metallism, 42, 217, 244n29

  Metaphysics (Aristotle), 34, 48

  Mexico, 75–78, 265n36

  “Micawber” (fictional character), 58

  Midas (king), 20

  Middle Ages, 54, 55, 58, 61, 73, 77, 234–35; accounts during, 60; bill of exchange system in, 67, 159; black money during, 59; gift economy in, 72; virtual currency period, 115

  migrant workers, 201–2

  Miletus, Greece, 33–37

  military, 21–22, 24, 26

  Mill, John Stuart, 143, 167

  Million Adventure, 85

  mind, body versus, 35–39

  mining, 8, 199–200, 202, 208–9, 212

  Minsky, 258n60

  Minsky, Hyman, 164–65

  mint, 59

  Mint, U.S., 79, 79–80

  minting, 32

  mints, 11, 24

  Min Zhu, 108

  Mises, Ludwig von, 96

  Mississippi Company, 99–100

  Mitchell-Innes, Alfred, 14–15, 44

  Mithras, 86

  mobile phones, 192–93, 266n3

  Moctezuma II (emperor), 76–77

  models, 155–57, 163, 260n94

  Modest Enquiry into the Nature and Necessity of a Paper-Currency, A (Franklin), 101

  momentum buyers, 161

  Monetae cudendae ratio. See On the Minting of Coin

  monetarism, 144–45

  monetary crisis, 32

  monetary experiments, in Great Depression, 185–86

  monetary policy, fiscal policy as more important than, 148

  monetary transactions, 9

  money (nomisma), 246n14, 252n36; adoption of, 9; characteristics of, 8–10; creation of, 10–11; definitions of, 7, 42–46, 52; demand for, 137; exactness of, 9; fiat, 30, 42; finality of, 9; first, 12–13; force, 46; as hard, 28–30; illusion, 144; invention of, 10–11; magnet, 31–54; as message, 235–38; metal, 77, 82, 140; as new, 176–95; origins of, 7–30, 16, 23; overview of, 1–5, 7–30, 16, 23, 235–38; points, 39; power, 78, 103–5, 118–38; properties of, 8–10, 31–54; quantum nature of, 174–75; rationality of, 9; as stable, 120–23; status of, 78; supply, 55, 111, 251n30; as veil, 141

  “Money” (Stein), 1

  Money: A History (Eagleton and Williams), 250n7, 250n9

  Money and the Mechanism of Exchange (Jevons), 12

  moneychangers, 64


  moneyfication, 146–47

  “Money is Memory” (Kocherlakota), 30

  moneylenders, 25, 56, 64

  Moneyless Man, 227, 267n26

  “Moneyless Man, The” (Boyle), 267n26

  moneyness, 49–50

  money objects, 45–48, 53–54, 66–67, 161, 216, 244n31; creation of, 120; forms taken by, 50, 52

  Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went (Galbraith), 97, 249n39, 251n17

  More, Thomas, 221, 227

  Morgans, 74, 122

  Morgan Stanley, 232

  mortgages, 61, 146–47

  Mosaic, 210

  M-Pesa, 192–93

  Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange, 203

  multiplier, 93–94

  Mun, Thomas, 83

  Munchau, Wolfgang, 165

  Mundell, Robert, 131–32

  Mundus Novus. See New World

  Muscatell, Keely, 73

  music, 34–35

  Muslims, 61

  Mystery of Money, The (Lietaer), 116, 252n45

  Nakamoto, Satoshi, 196, 197–98, 201, 204, 218

  Napster, 213–14

  NASDAQ, 108

  National City Bank of New York, 122

  nation-states, 82–84

  Native Americans, 11, 12, 19

  natural economy, 29

  natural resources, 259n80

  negative feedback, 161

  negative numbers, 56–57, 137–38

  neochartalists, 15, 111–12

  neoclassical economics, 3, 138, 142–43, 151–52, 222, 234

  neo-classical utility theory, 266n10

  Nerburn, Kent, 126

  networks, 216, 218

  net worth, 41

  NeuCoin, 208–9, 218

  New Economics Foundation, 124

  Newton, Isaac, 88–90, 91–92, 98–99, 105–6, 217

  Newtonian physics, 142, 144

  New World, 73, 74–96, 79

  New World (Vespucci), 75

  New York, 17–18, 103, 186–87

  Nicomachean Ethics (Aristotle), 32

  Nietzsche, Friedrich, 118

  Nigeria, 109

  Nike, 192

  NINJA borrower. See no income, no job, no assets borrower

  Nixon, Richard, 102, 105–8, 112, 114, 127–28, 194

  Nobel Prize in Economics, 155

  no income, no job, no assets (NINJA) borrower, 164

  nomina. See bonds

  nomisma. See money

  nomos. See law

  nonbanking competition, 192

  Nordberg, Donald, 168

  Normandy, France, 247n34

  North, Dudley, 84

  North America, 11, 12, 19

  Northern Party, 189

  Notre Dame, 61

  Novartis AG, 167

  Nucleus, 205

  numbers, 34–37, 43–44, 50–54, 70; Arabic system, 57; economics fascination, 156–57; importance of, 243n8; negative, 56–57, 137–38; physical world as, 78; power of, 40–42; Roman system, 57; square, 57; value’s relationship with, 229–30, 243n8; as wrong, 226–28; zero, 57

  oasis, 228–32

  Observer, 2

  obverse, 38

  Odum, Eugene, 221–22

  OECD. See Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development