From: Riccardo Bellofiore (riccardo.bellofiore@UNIBG.IT)
Date: Tue Jun 01 2004 - 06:01:56 EDT
I don't know, of course. But I suggest Costas to look at the writings of Heinsohn and Steiger on the origin of money, an anti-Mengerian account. Btw, I fear that we are conflating historical and logical origin. I would argue that Marx is NOT doing historical deductions at the beginning of Capital. Menger, yes. Schumpeter divorced the two: he in a sense was historically Mengerian, but thought that the logical essence of money was not in its hitorically being a commodity at first. rb At 10:36 +0100 1-06-2004, Costas Lapavitsas wrote: >Can I ask on what historical sources you rely for this strong and confident >statement? > >Costas > >At 09:20 01/06/2004 +0100, you wrote: >> > Money, it seems to me, arises spontaneously out of private and social >>> relations among commodity owners. It is a social nexus that necessarily >>takes >>> the form of absolute ability to buy. In a capitalist economy it also >>acts as >>> claim on wealth, since the division of labour is very detailed and >>producers >>> are independent and in competition. It also becomes capital and >>> interest-bearing capital. It further has a variety of non-economic >>roles. But >>> these roles depend on the essential character of money as monopolist of >>> buying ability and do not determine it. >>> >>> As for the state, which Jerry and others have brought up, I think that we >>> should differentiate between the state inducing the emergence of money and >>> the state becoming necessarily associated with money and buttressing it >>with >>> its own power. The former, I suggest, is analytically misleading (as >>well as >>> historically dubious) and not in line with Marx's letter and spirit. The >>> latter I would have no quarrel with. >>> >>> Costas >>> >> >>The problem with this account is that there is very little >>historical evidence to support it. It is a theoretical back >>projection of onto early society of Isaac Newtons monetary >>policy as master of the Mint. >> >>---------------------------------------------------------------- >>This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program. -- Riccardo Bellofiore Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Hyman P. Minsky" Università di Bergamo Via dei Caniana 2 I-24127 Bergamo, Italy e-mail: riccardo.bellofiore@unibg.it direct +39-035-2052545 secretary +39-035 2052501 fax: +39 035 2052549 homepage: http://wwwesterni.unibg.it/dse/homepage/bellofiore.htm
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