MONEY AND VALUE

John Sloan

In this essay I attempt to describe 'money' and 'value' in real terms and identify the most common fallacies one reads in the common literature.

But before we dig in to the morass of theories about money and about value, here is an interesting and relevant digression. When one adds 2 to 2 one some times comes up with 5 or 6. In this case we have an interesting book purchased to learn more about Mesopotamian economic and political life. But we find it contains many valuable insights into the study of economics - including of course money and ideas about value just as relevant to today's actions by the Federal Reserve. This is The Ancient Economy: Evidence and Models, edited by J. .G. Manning and Ian Morris.

Despite 'money' and 'value' being critical and fundamental concepts central to the entire economist profession for its understanding of how a 'economy' actually functions, there is no consensus among economists as to the meaning of either. The arguments flow back and forth, as is so common in many similar discussions, the participants frequently are simply 'talking' past or over each other. One fundamental cause of the reasoning system some authors employ is that some are secular materialists who even deny that any actors in economic affairs in the past could actually believe in metaphysical concepts and hence base their actions on such beliefs. And others do believe real actors did base their actions on metaphysical beliefs but then dismiss those ideas as irrational. .

Here are several 'standard' discussions on money and economic thought. Others are at the end of this essay. Note the fundamental basis of all these theories about economic activities - they are theories. This is the 'deductive' method coming from Plato as opposed to an evidence based 'inductive' method coming from Aristotle. The most 'theoretical' of them are based on pure thinking by individuals who claim to be utterly 'rational' in their own thought processes, without reference to examination of the events recorded in human history. In fact some economists go so far as to claim that historical 'facts' are not 'facts' and should be ignored. They presume, on their rational basis, a few axioms and then work backwards from those to construct a 'must have been' psudo-historical record. Others did attempt to base their 'reasoned' analysis on some historical facts but lacked access to the actual historical record which was not literally 'unearthed' until recently. Yet there followers -fans - persist on the basis of these savants reputation to stick with the early ideas.
But the fundamental problem with relying on theorists espousing economic theories is the same as relying on those promotiing political theories. When theories are compared with actual events and results of their application in practice (if that happens) is note the remarkable congruence of such theories with the political policies they seek to legitimize. Thus, in the era of rulers claiming 'the divine right of kings' there are theories supporting that. Slave holding societies produce multiple theoretical claims to justify it. Politicians who want to expand their government power favor economic theories that justify that. Or putting it in reverse economists who seek advancement from politicians wanting 'big' government will conceive theories that support them.

Here are a few standard encyclopedia descriptions or definitions about money and theories about economics. I will also include links to books and articles about money.

History of Economic Thought

History of Money

Classical Economics

Austrian School Economics

Keynesian Economics

Keynesian vs. Austrian Economics

Credit Theory of Money

State Theory of Money

Quantity Theory of Money

"liquidity preference"

Money

Store of Value

Unit of Account

Medium of Exchange

Velocity of Money

Principles of Economics

History of Macroeconomic Thought

Debt Deflation

Modern Monetary Theory

Chartalism

As with money, there are various different ideas expressed by theoriticians about 'value'. And some authors simply ignore the subject.
In my view, 'Value' is a psychological phenomena. And 'money' is another psychological concept that is created as a means for describing the relative 'value' of goods and services. "Money' in turn is depicted by notations in written ledgers or by tokens created to represent it physically. But both 'value' and 'money' are essentially concepts - not myths, but ideas. And the content of the concepts of 'value' and 'money' are closely related and determined by the underlying belief in a purely materialist or in a fundamentally metaphysical reality.

Economists define 'money' in terms of three functions that they claim it serves.
One is as a 'measure of account', which means the 'value' of objects and labor and other things can be entered as numerical representations in written ledgers. Then they can be compared 'objectively'. But, of course, the actual relationship between the number assigned to one thing and that of another is subjective.
The second is as a 'medium of exchange', which means that tokens (coins, slips of paper, tally sticks, or physical commodities like sea shells, (or now digital entries on computers) can be exchanged between parties to represent the 'value' of the goods or services being exchanged. This method avoids the so-called 'double problem' if people wishing to sell have to find an individual wishing to buy that same thing and the reverse. Some theorists consider this 'money' to be a commodity subject to their laws relating to supply and demand for commodities. While others believe that, whatever the physical medium is, its attribute as 'money' is purely representational.

The third function is as a 'store of 'value', which means that the 'value' represented by the tokens or by the numerical marks in the ledger will retain this 'value' over time, so that it can be accepted equally for both sides of an exchange and can be presumed to remain the same between the time it is exchanged for goods and the time its holder will exchange it for other goods.
More about this function below. As I mentioned theorists who consider this as a 'function' of money don't all agree in what constitutes 'value'.
The historical record shows that at various times and in various places these three functions were fulfilled by different representations. For instance, ducks, sparrows and eagles are all 'birds' and in like manner the forms by which 'money' performs each of those three functions need not be the same.

Human activity
Humans are the only species of life that innately attempts to justify its own existence.
In fact, life itself, consists of repeated exchanges of goods and services. Goods and services is a category that includes both material and non-material items. Material are everything from ping pong balls to furniture and houses to air craft carriers. Non-material items include power, loyalty, honor, glory, friendship, prestige, love and many other similar concepts.
The fundamental and most important asset that each human possesses is time and the second is knowledge. Time is unique in several ways.
First, it is the only asset that is obtained without exchange with another asset, but it can be exchanged for any good or service.
Second, it depreciates almost immediately, in the course of a single day, but is received, again, on the following day. Depreciation means a decline in the relative value of an asset.
Third, it is the property of each individual. Once the asset of the time provided by a single day is gone it cannot be retrieved, but another day is given next. In order to make use of the time in a day the individual must exchange it promptly for an asset (good or service) that will not depreciate so quickly. In important cases that asset is knowledge. But all assets depreciate over time unless they are actively enhanced by their owner. For instance, new knowledge is described by George Gilder as 'surprise'. The value of knowledge depreciates as it becomes known and used by more and more people. The creation of knowledge is an intensive capital expense and knowledge is capital.
Individuals may choose to exchange their day of time for some form of personal pleasure, such as watching a movie or playing frizbee. But at some point they will need to exchange their day of time for essential assets of food, clothing and shelter, provided by someone else. Typically, they can do this either by performing a service directly in exchange for such goods or services, or they can learn to produce assets of value to others that then can be exchanged.

'Value'
The common idea is that goods and services as mentioned above 'have' value. This is a mistake. And so is the idea of 'intrinsic value'. There is no such thing. 'Value' is a psychological phenomena. It is a measure of a relative 'desire' or 'want' or 'feeling for' one asset in comparison with all the other potential goods or services that the individual has available for choice. It is the increments on the scale of priorities - preferences. Individuals from childhood want to have or do everything they can think of NOW. The process of maturation includes learning that one cannot have or do everything one desires and especially not NOW. The individual must select, choose, what to want or to do most out of the total available items. In other words, establish priorities. 'Value' then is the relative place on the scale of priorities that the individual establishes for each good or service or personal action at a given time and location. The 'value' the individual assigns to any specific good or service or action is relative because it will change with the individual's circumstances as well as with the relative availability of these in comparison with all others. So 'value' is not an attribute that can be fixed to - attached to - any object or asset (material on non-material). A good or service does not have value, yet it can be 'valuable' because it can be desirable.

An essential aspect of individual freedom is the ability to decide for oneself the 'relative value' of each available good or service or action. Slavery essentially is the condition in which one has nearly no ability to decide 'values' for himself. (See further.) But to live successfully in a society, one must abide by the limitations and relative 'values' the society places on the range of goods, services, and actions. The individual lives in a community of other individuals who also have scales of priority in which they place the same desired goods and services. In a democratic society the range remains quite broad. The more dictatorial or absolutist the rule of the government the smaller the range of available goods, services and actions allowed to the individual. In fact the exercise of 'power' amounts to the ability to determine which of these (if any) are available to each individual. The ruler's scale of relative 'values' takes the place over that of the individuals.
The there are two scales of priorities. One is the relative 'values' assigned to the use of individual's available time and the other is the relative 'values' of the individual goods, services and activities that may be selected. Governments will seek to control both scales.

Following an initial comment by Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Karl Marx and many other economists found the source of 'value' in labor - that hours or days of work have 'value' in themselves. Marx, then, claimed that, if the money prices of the products produced by labor were greater than the money wage received by the worker, there must be a 'surplus value' that was being confiscated from the worker by the employer.
It seems to me they had the situation backwards. The 'value' of the goods or services produced by in individual, be him laborer or anyone else, is not determined by the laborer (producer) himself (herself) but by the counter parties who will receive them. The laborer (producer), having exchanged his labor time for something he created, exchanges his production with a counter party who is reciprocating by exchanging his own production - in other words, for other products so their relative 'value' is established by the usual relationship of 'supply and demand'. It is established either in a relatively 'free' market society or by the government in an authoritarian society. In a centrally controlled economy the exchange may be indirect, in that the producers deposit their products in a government controlled warehouse and draw consumption goods back out of the warehouses.

If 'value' was an intrinsic attribute attached to any thing, there could be no auctions or even trade. Everyone would have the same assessment of the 'value' of the assets and each would have a fixed price, and that quantity of 'money' would also have the same 'value' to each potential bidder. And no one would voluntarily trade away a more valuable asset in exchange for a less valuable one.
Or consider a simple relationship between two individuals, Mr. A and Mr. B in which Mr. A has product X and Mr. B has product Y. Can they trade? If Mr. X considers the 'value' of product Y to be greater than product X - AND Mr. B considers the value of product X to be greater than product Y, then they can exchange - in each case the individual receives a new product of greater 'value', in his opinion, to himself than what he gave. But if the two products each had 'intrinsic value'; that is, their 'values' were attributes attached to each so that both parties assigned the 'values' of each product the same as did the other party, then they would not trade.

As Ludwig von Mises shows in his essential book, Human Action, individuals have but one integrated hierarchy of desires and one scale of prioritizing. But in the late 19th century the academic communities decided to divide the study of human action into three separate categories - economic, social, and political. So, since then professional economists have created this mythical 'economic man' who prioritizes all his actions on the pursuit of economic goals by maximizing his 'utility factor'. The other two disciplines also tend to study a model of man whose actions are dominated by social or political motives. But this can miss consideration of the real human motives that can be seen when the individual seeks, for instance, greater economic assets to use them as means to achieve social or political ends; or any other means and ends relationship that combines the individual's assessment of 'value' in all three respects.

Production and Consumption:
Everything that is created - produced - is created by individuals. Products created include both the material assets and non-material assets as mentioned above. Some products can be created quickly, while others require years to be created.
Everything consumed is consumed by individuals. Products are consumed when they reach their final 'owner' and are no longer exchanged. Some products are consumed rapidly, while others may remain useful and continue to exist for years.
Everyone is of necessity of life a consumer and consumption takes place continually and immediately. In primitive societies - hunters and gatherers - producers and consumers were identical - producers consumed what they produced and consumers had produced what they consumed. This relationship changed with the development of agriculture and the specialization of labor. But even nomadic societies typically divided production of specific items between individuals having the most skill in their production. Then 'distribution' was needed to enable the more complex exchange process.
But only a relatively few individuals in modern society are producers. And production is episodic and future oriented, sometimes requiring a year or more between the beginning of a production process and its achievement. And the creation of a single thing will likely require the efforts of many producers. (Think agriculture or finding and building a mine.) So producers, being also consumers, must consume previously created products during the delayed interval before their production process achieves results. That means they must already have sufficient products to exchange for those they are consuming, or be able to obtain them on the basis of credit. (A model of economic activity that does not include this relationship is faulty.) But once their production process (if successful) is generating a profit - surplus - they can expand production on the basis of 'retained earnings' - sometimes called 'cash flow'.
Therefore, our definition:
Consumers - everyone is a consumer
Producers, individuals who devote at least some of their time by exchanging their time to creation of something new of value to others.
Non-productive consumers, individuals who do not produce anything (or very little) of value to others. (Obvious nonproductive consumers are children and those too old or sick to continue producing). But they can include others who are favored by social norms or by coercion and violence. Among these are rulers (government officials) and their associates (including voters).

Rana Foroohar coins a great concept of this in the title of her book Makers and Takers. She has in mind as 'takers' individuals, other than children and ill, who live off the production of others without contributing to production.

Thus, I categorize societies in two ways. Producers versus non-producers; and rulers versus ruled.

The relationship between production and consumption:
Every individual must consume to survive, thus consumption must have at least a minimal level. This must be achieved by at least a minimal level of production - and access to produced products. So some individuals must be producers. In primitive societies production was limited by physical capacities, whereas today, unfortunately, low levels of consumption are limited mostly by limited access to greater quantities of production. Production must be distributed from its producers to the consumers. In small, primitive societies this was accomplished by sharing according to social norms - not barter. As societies became larger, more 'advanced' and with increasing specialization of labor they became organized in hierarchal structures in which rulers took charge of organizing distribution. This invariably favored themselves (including their supporting cadres). (See for instance, Karl Wittfogel, Oriental Despotism.

Saving:
Only producers can save anything. Savings are the 'retained earnings' kept (not consumed or invested) by the producers. Consumers as defined above do not and cannot 'save' anything. The common term, savings, that are somethings not consumed by consumers are actually a part of real savings from producers or 'gifts' from government remaining to consumers from what has been transferred to them (not produced by them). And the 'gifts' from government actually are savings from something created by producers, or simply 'gifts' created by government edict..

L. Randall Wray in his tendentious book, Modern Money Theory repeatedly claims that the purpose of all production is to acquire 'money'. That is an old concept. I disagree, for me the purpose of production is to create 'value'. 'Money' is only one symbol of 'value', but not all 'value' is symbolized in 'money'. The theoretical concept that focuses on 'money' derives from the modern materialist view of reality, which in turn considers economic activity as a process for achieving ends, when actually it is only a process of prioritizing and achieving means.

'Value' and 'money':
An individual 'hermit' can make his decisions on choices of goods. services and actions he will retain, consume or seek to create on the basis of internal thought without needing to consider the choices of anyone else. But people live in a society in which, as noted above, their neighbors also are making decisions about the same products and activities. They naturally develop and agree upon an external (but relative and temporary) scale onto which everyone will then be able to advertise his priorities to everyone else. As societies create more formal organization they establish government. One role of government, then, is to create a practical mechanism for educating everyone so they understand the scale of 'values' and can use it. In a broadly democratic society the government promotes the scale of 'values' continually recreated by the people. The more authoritarian the government the more it will want to interfere and establish a scale that promotes its one set of 'values' and keep it constant.

The scale of 'values' is described then by an abstract concept we call 'money. With such an abstract overall concept well understood, individuals are able to compare and make known to each other their opinions about the relative 'value' of any products or actions under consideration for exchange. They are able to recognize the 'values' both they have themselves and those of their counter-parties as described above, when considering an exchange. The abstract concept 'money' is, in a market organized society, expressed in terms called 'prices'. But first the concept of 'money ' was represented by notations in ledgers created and kept by officials of local governments (rulers). Later, it was also depicted in some physical form that people could recognize and use. Today, the abstract concept 'money' is also represented in abstract terms signified by entry in digital data bases.

There are three main functions that societies have recognized that this concept 'money' may perform.
One is as a 'measure of account'. That was the first function of government. That means an accounting or 'book keeping' process in which the assets and liabilities of parties may be compared with each other in terms of some unchanging standard. The flow of assets and liabilities of the member parties may be netted against each other without any physical representation changing hands. So-called Giro systems are of this form and so is the Yap Island giant stone circle. The advantage of using this system is that it is safe and does not involve carrying a physical representation around. But a disadvantage is that it is created by a ruler and government, not the individual people.
A second function is as a 'means of exchange'. This means some physical item such as a cacao bean, metal coin, beaver pelt, barrel of tobacco, piece of printed paper, or other of established and known 'value' can be exchanged as an intermediate token good between exchanges of the final goods or services. The huge advantage of developing and using this method is that it greatly expands the flexibility of individual exchanges in time and space and enables individuals to express their own idea of relative values of the products directly.
The third commonly considered function of 'money' is as a 'store of value'. In my opinion this is limited in nature because 'value' cannot really be 'stored'. In order for 'money' to be a 'store of value' its 'value' (expressed in whatever token form it takes) must be guaranteed by some authority. Otherwise, the 'value' of the 'money' will be subject to the same relativity as other things or ideas including depreciation.

Credit and debt

"Velocity" of Money - This is the link to my extended discussion of the concept of 'velocity' of money

Biographies or identifications of significant economists or their theories or books

Warren Mosler - Apparently obtained sufficient wealth from the hedge fund he created to dabble in politics and bulding expensive automobiles as well as learn about MMT from Wray and others. He is prolific author claiming the value of MMT

George Fredrich Knapp - The author of State Theory of Money and now the champion of the 'chartalist' theory of money creation now advocated by the MMT theorists

Carl Menger - one of the 19th - early 20th century founders of the "Austrian school' of economic theory

Michal Kalecki - Influencal Polish theoritician in 1940's who formulated mathmatical equations and model supporting state capitalism and origin of MMT - Described by Antony Mueller

Alfred Mitchell-Innes -

Lawrence H. White - economics professor - author of Clash of Economic Ideas

Bill Mitchell

Robert P. Murphy

Lord John Maynard Keynes - The most influential economist of the 20th century and beyond. But strongly challenged by others.

Liquidity Preference - Invented by Lord Keynes as a theory to explain the origin of interest rates as the 'demad' for money. It presumes money is an asset - a commodity - It is depicted in the IS/LM model. But other economists believe that interest rates are a result of the time preference for having anything NOW versus having it at some future time. Interest is then demanded for abstaining from having it now in favor of having it later.

Say's Law of Markets - developed by French economist, J. B. Say around 1810. Asserts economic theory that supply will always create demand. Disparanged and ignored by Keynesian economists

Murray Rothbard - self styled anachro-capitalist - one of the leading economists following Ludwig von Mises - libertarian - author of many books on economics, history and politics. strong advocate of very small government or none at all.

Frederick Hayek - Student of Ludwig von Mises -Nobel Prize winner - author of Road to Serfdom - leader in Austrian School.

Ludwig von Mises - Austrian economist - prolific author - Human Action -leader of the Austrian School of economic theory

Methodenstreit - name coined for the conflict in late19th century between Austrian School and German Historical School advocates of different findamental bases for economic theory.

anarcho- Capitalism -Advocated by Murray Rothbard - believes in almost no role for government in human affairs.

Catallactics - Advocated as method in theory of economics by von Mises

praxeology - the 'science' of human behavior advocated by von Mises as the basis for developing economic theory

Richards, Jay - Money, Greed and God

Cantillion, Richard - Wikipedia

Cantillion, Richard, Founder

Cantillion, Richard - An Essay on the Nature of Trade in General

Cantillion, Richard - An Essay

Cantillion, Richard -

References: A list of some books and articles devoted mostly or at least significantly on the subjects of money, credit, debt, or investment

Mishkin, Frederic S. - The Economics of Money, Banking & Financial Markets

Ingham, Geoffrey - The Nature of Money

Ingham, Geoffrey - Capitalism

Otteson, James-The Essential Adam Smith

Martin, Felix - Money - The Unauthorized Biography

Kwarteng, Kwasi - War and Gold: A 500-year history of Empires, Adventures, and Debt

Fischer, David Hackett - The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History

Tamny, John - Who Needs the FED

Davies, Glyn - History of Money: From Ancient Times to the Present Day

Dorn, James, A. ed. - Monetary Alternatives: Rethinking Government Fiat Money

Kindleberger, Charles - Manias, Panics, and Crashes

Graeber, David - Debt: The First 5,000 Years

Hudson, Michael - .... and forgive them their debts

Selgin, George - The Myth of the Myth of Barter

Selgin, George - Graeber, Once More

Weatherford, Jack - The History of Money

Admati, Anat & Martin Hellwig - The Bankers' New Clothes: What's Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It

Calomiris, Charles W. & Stephen H. Haber -Fragile by Design: The Political Origins of Banking Crises & Scarce Credit

Reinhart, Carmen M. & Kenneth S. Rogoff - This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly

Conti-Brown, Peter - The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve

Foroohar, Rana - Makers and Takers: The Rise of Finance and The Fall of American Business

King, Stephen D. - When the Money Runs Out: The end of Western Affluence

Whalen, R. Christopher - Inflated: How Money and Debt Built the American Dream

Forbes, Steve & Elizabeth Ames - Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy - and What We Can Do About It

Gordon, David - Review of Forbes book - Money: How the Destruction of the Dollar Threatens the Global Economy

Gordon, David - Review of Israel Kirzner book - collection on Ethics and the Legacy of Austrian Economics

Gilder, George -The Scandal of Money: Why Wall Street Recovers but the Economy Never Does

Gilder, George Wealth and Poverty

Gilder, George Life after Google

Mehrling, Perry - The New Lombard Street

Wray, L. Randall - A Chartalist Critique of John Locke's Theory of Property, Accumulation, and Money

Wray, L. Randall -Modern Money Theory

Wray, L. Randall - Money: An Alternative Story

Mitchell, Roger Malcolm - Monetarily Soverign: The Key to Understanding Economics

Mitchell, Roger Malcolm - How You Can Change the World with Just two Words

Mitchell, Roger Malcolm - How You Can Prevent Recessions and Depressions

Mosler, Warren - Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) in a Nutshell

Mosler, Warren - Seven Deadly Innocent Frauds of Economic Policy

Edwards, Sebastian - Modern Monetary Theory: Cautionary tales from Latin America

Daily KOS article. Mosler's "Seven Deadly innocent Frauds"_ a review, sort of.

Caffentzis, C. George - Hume, Money, and Civilization; or, Why Was Hume a Metalists?

Wright, Robert - MMT Is a Recipe for Revolution

Frankel, S. Herbert - Two Philosophies of Money: The Conflict of Trust and Authority

Katusa, Martin - The Colder War: How the Global Energy trade Slipped from America's Grasp

Rickards, James - The Death of Money: The Coming Collapse of the International Monetary System

Rickards, James - Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis

Rickards, James - The Road to Ruin

White, Lawrence H. - The Clash of Economic Ideas

Rothbard, Murray N. Economic Thought Before Adam Smith- An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought Vol 1

Rothbard, Murray N. Classical Economics - An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought Volume II

Rothbard, Murray N. - What has Government Done to our Money?

Rothbard, Murray N. - The Mystery of Banking

Rothbard, Murray N. - A History of Money and Banking in the United States

Rothbard, Murray N. - The Anatomy of the State

Rothbard, Murray N. - Man, Economy, and State + Power and Market

Rothbard, Murray N. - The Essential von Mises

Rothbard, Murray N. - Conceived in Liberty A Libertarian perspective history of the American colonies up to 1984.

Ferguson, Niall - The Ascent of Money

Ferguson, Niall - The Great Degeneration

Ferguson, Niall - The Square and the Tower

Polleit, Thorsten - Central Banks are Messing with Your Head

Niemietz, Kristian - Socialism: The Failed Idea that Never Dies

Kaufman, Henry - Tectonic Shifts in Financial Markets

Booth, Danielle Dimartino - FED UP

Mises, Ludwig von - The Theory of Money and Credit

Mises, Ludwig von - Human Action

Mises, Ludwig von -Theory and History

Mises, Ludwig von -Socialism

Mises, Ludwig von - The Anti-Capitalist Mentality

Mises, Ludwig von - Lord Keynes and Say's Law

Wikipedia article - Say's Law

Horowiz, Steven - Understanding Say's Lawsee above

Mises, Ludwig von - Bureaucracy

Mises, Ludwig von - Liberalism

Manish, G. P. A Brief Defense of Mises's Conception of Time Preference and His Pure Time Preference Theory of Interest

Kates, Stephen Why Your Grandfather's Economics Was Better than Yours: On the Catastrophic Disappearance of Say's Law

Coogan, Philip - Paper Promises; Debt, Money and The new World Order

Manning J. G. and Jan Morris - The Ancient Economy

Fox, Justin - The Myth of the Rational Market

Conti-Brown, Peter - The Power and Independence of the Federal Reserve

Selgin, George - The Theory of Free Banking: Money Supply under Competitive Note Issue

Selgin, George - Fractional Reserve Banking

Selgin, George - Money Free and Unfree

Selgin, George - MMT's Big Coin Gambit

Selgin, George - Floored

Selgin, George - The Modern New Deal That's Too Good to Be True

Board of Governors - Federal Reserve - Federal Reserve System

Tamny, John - Your Move, Gold Critics: Please Explain What Money Is

Murphy, Robert- George Selgin Misunderstands Rothbard's Position on Fractional Reserve Banking

Murphy, Robert - The Upside Down World of MMT

Hudson, Michael - ...and forgive them their debts

Hudson, Michael - Finance as Warfare

Hudson, Michael - A Travesty of Financial History

Shostak, Frank - The problem with Modern Monetary Theory

Shostak, Frank - Why the Boom-Bust Cycle Keeps Repeating

Shostak, Frank - Easy Money is Driving the Boom-Bust Cycles

Shostak, Frank - Money Velocity and Economic Growth

Salerno, Joseph - Fractional Reserves and the Fed

Salerno, Joseph - The Sociology of the Development of Austrian Economics

Landes, David, Joel Mokyr & William Baumol, eds. - The Invention of Enterprise: Entrepreneurship from Ancient Mesopotamia to Modern Times

Podany, Amanda- Brotherhood of Kings

Podany, Amanda - Mesopotamia

History of Mesopotamia

Third Dynasty of Ur

Ebla -Wealthy and powerful kingdom with capital of same name in north-west modern Syria -

Uruk Period

History of Sumer

Reden, Sitta von - Money in Classical Antiquity

Facts and Details - Mesopotamian Economics and Money

Melloan, George- Great Money Binge: Spending our Way to Socialism

Lewis, Hunter- Where Keynes went Wrong

Salsman, Richard - Gold and Liberty

Johnston, Michael - Going for Gold

Lewis, Nathan K. - Gold the Final Standard

Romer, Paul - The Trouble with Macroeconomics

Morgan, Theodore - Introduction to Economics

Magness, Philip W. - Postmodern Monetary Theory

Bernholz, Peter - Monetary Regimes and Inflation

Newman, Patrick - Book Review of Bernholz'sMonetary Regimes and Inflation

Wiggin, Addison - The Demise of the Dollar

Kay, John - Other People's Money

Gilder, George - The Scandal of Money

Mansharamani,- Vikram - Boombustology: Spotting Financial Bubbles before they burst

Pollett, Thorsten - Central Banks Are Propping Up Stock Prices

Pollett, Thorsten - The Fed Has No Choice But to Return to Ultra-Low Interest Rates

Mueller, Antony - Where Does the Idea That Deficits don't Matter Come From"

Mueller, Antony - The Neo-Marxist Rots of Modern Monetary Theory

Kaketcki, Michal - economic equations

Hoppe, Hans-Hermann Banking, Nation States, and International Politics: A Socological Reconstruction of the Present Economic order

Klein, Matthew C. Debating Modern Monetary Theory

Klein, Matthew C. The Fed's Shrinkage Problem

Murray, Justin - Billioaires Aren't Quite As Rich as We Think They Are

Kelton, Stephanie & Randall Wray - Answers from the MMTers

Muir, Kevin - The Macro Tourist -Practitioner's Guide to MMT: Part I

Muir, Kevin - The Macro Tourist - Practitioner's Guide to MMT: Part 2

Muray, Justin - How Central Bank Interest -Rate - Policy is Destabilizing Banks

Hunt, Lacy - Hoisington - Quarterly Review and Outlook

Hay, David - Bubble 3.0: The Intersection of Bubble and Bubble

Hay, David - Bubble 3.0: A Blast From a Bubble Past

Hay, David - Bubble 3.0: Can an Acronym Save the World? (Part I)

Hay, David - Bubble 3.0: Can an Acronym Save the World? (Part II)

Hay, David - Bubble 3.0: Chapter 10: No Way Out

Weiss, Kai - Central Banks Contribute to Inequality

Dwyer, Gerald P. - Quantitative Easing: A model for Financing Government Spending?

Salter, Alexander W. - Interest Rates, Funny Money, and Economic Malaise