The Ontology and Function of Money: The Philosophical Fundamentals of Monetary Institutions

471 Pages·2015·2.451 MB·English

by  Leonidas Zelmanovitz

The Ontology and Function
of Money
Capitalist Thought: Studies in Philosophy,
Politics, and Economics
Series Editor: Edward W. Younkins,
Wheeling Jesuit University
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TitlesintheSeries
EconomicMorality:AncienttoModernReadings,byHenryC.ClarkandEricAllison
TheOntologyandFunctionofMoney:ThePhilosophicalFundamentalsofMonetary
Institutions,byLeonidasZelmanovitz
The Ontology and Function
of Money
The Philosophical Fundamentals of
Monetary Institutions
Leonidas Zelmanovitz
LEXINGTONBOOKS
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Zelmanovitz,Leonidas,1961-author.
Theontologyandfunctionofmoney:thephilosophicalfundamentalsofmonetaryinstitutions/
LeonidasZelmanovitz.
pagescm.--(Capitalistthought:studiesinphilosophy,politics,andeconomics)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-7391-9511-6(cloth:alk.paper)--ISBN978-0-7391-9512-3(electronic)1.Money--
Philosophy.2.Financialinstitutions.3.Monetarypolicy.I.Title.
HG220.3.Z452015
332.401--dc23
2015027569
TMThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsofAmerican
NationalStandardforInformationSciencesPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibrary
Materials,ANSI/NISOZ39.48-1992.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
ThisbookisdedicatedtoRosane,Thomas,andAlicia.

Contents
ListofFiguresandTables xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Preface xvii
BrazilasaMonetaryLaboratory xvii
GoingBeyondEconomicsandBecomingPhilosophical xix
Introduction 1
InstitutionsandProgress 3
ThePurposeofGoodMoneyandSomeHindrancesto
HavingIt 4
Notes 6
I:Metaphysics 7
1 TheOriginandEssenceofMoney 9
1.1IntroductiontotheOriginandEssenceofMoney 9
1.2MakingtheHistoricalAccountCompatible 11
1.3WhatistheOrthodoxy? 12
1.4SettingthePremises 14
1.5UnderstandingWhatisMoneyfortheCatallactics 18
1.6TheFunctionalityofMoney 20
1.7ArgumentsforConceivingMoneyasaCharter 26
1.8ComparingtheArgumentsoftheTwoSchools 42
Notes 48
2 BriefAccountoftheIntellectualHistoryofMoney,Starting
withAristotle 55
2.1IntroductiontothePhilosophyofMoneyinAristotle 55
2.2FromAristotletotheTheoryofMarginalUtility 65
2.3ContemporarySchoolsontheCharacteristicsofMoney 70
Notes 93
3 Menger,Simmel,andMisesonMoneyValue 97
3.1IntroductiontoSimmelandMises 97
3.2ValueofMoneyforMenger 99
3.3Mises’TheoryofMoneyValue 100
3.4Simmel’sPhilosophyofMoney 105
3.5ConclusionofSimmelandMisesonMoney 113
Notes 116
vii
viii Contents
II:Epistemology 119
4 Comte’sPositivistEpistemologyandPoliticsina
ComparativeAnalysiswiththeAustrianSchoolof
Economics 121
4.1Introduction 122
4.2PositivismasaSchoolofThought 124
4.3HenrideSaint-SimonandAugusteComte 124
4.4PositiveEpistemology 125
4.5PositivePolitics 129
4.6TheAustrianSchoolofEconomics 134
4.7Conclusion 136
Notes 138
5 WhatisitPossibletoKnowaboutMoney? 141
5.1WhatisitPossibletoKnowaboutMoney? 141
5.2ThePositivistMethodologyandEpistemological
AssumptionofMainstreamEconomics 142
5.3TheGeneralEquilibriumTheory 146
5.4TheUseofKnowledgeinSocietyandMoney 147
5.5Socialism 149
5.6LombardStreet 152
5.7ImplicationsoftheGAMOEDefinition 153
5.8MonetaryDisturbances 155
5.9RationalExpectations 156
5.10SubjectivismandtheUnderstandingofMoney 158
Notes 159
III:Ethics 163
6 TheEthicofMoney 165
6.1IntroductiontotheEthicsofMoney 165
6.2APossibleClassificationoftheSchoolsofThought
aboutMoneyAccordingtotheirConceptionsaboutthe
SourceofMoney’sValue 168
6.3MoralTheories 170
6.4TheMoralJustificationofthe“FiscalProviso” 174
6.5HowtoFitaCatallacticMonetaryTheoryintothe
DivideinMoralPhilosophy 177
6.6TheDynamicEfficiencyTheory 178
6.7TheTheoryofDynamicEfficiencyandMoney 181
6.8SelectedAttributesofaProperMonetarySystem 182
6.9Conclusion 194
Notes 195