This book provides a comprehensive and systematic introduction to the problem of the definition of money and investigates the gains that can be achieved by a rigorous use of microeconomic- and aggregation-theoretic foundations in the construction of monetary aggregates. It provides readers with key aspects of monetary economics and macroeconomics, including monetary aggregation, demand systems, flexible functional forms, long-run monetary neutrality, the welfare cost of inflation, and nonlinear chaotic dynamics.This book offers the following conclusions: the simple-sum approach to monetary aggregation and log-linear money demand functions, currently used by central banks, are inappropriate for monetary policy purposes; the choice of monetary aggregation procedure is crucial in evaluating the welfare cost of inflation; the inter-related problems of monetary aggregation and money demand will be successfully investigated in the context of flexible functional forms that satisfy theoretical regularity globally, pointing the way forward to useful and productive research.

A human economy puts people first in emergent world society. Money is a human universal and now takes the divisive form of capitalism. This book addresses how to think about money (from Aristotle to the daily news and the sexual economy of luxury goods); its contemporary evolution (banking the unbanked and remittances in the South, cross-border investment in China, the payments industry and the politics of bitcoin); and cases from 19th century India and Southern Africa to contemporary Haiti and Argentina. Money is one idea with diverse forms. As national monopoly currencies give way to regional and global federalism, money is a key to achieving economic democracy.

Based on detailed research and consultation with experts, including the Bank of England, this book reviews theoretical and historical debates on the nature of money and banking and explains the role of the central bank, the Government and the European Union. Following a sell out first edition and reprint, this second edition includes new sections on Libor and quantitative easing in the UK and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe.

A guide to banking and finance. This edition provides coverage of topics such as financial theory, central bank independence, the effect of credit availability on monetary policy, recent developments in macroeconomics, and the international monetary system.

This books presents a theory of economic development very different from the "stages of growth" hypothesis or strategies emphasizing foreign aid, trade, or regional association. Leaving these aside, the author breaks new ground by focusing on the use of domestic capital markets to stimulate economic performance. He suggests a "bootstrap" approach in which successful development would depend largely on policy choices made by national authorities in the developing countries themselves. Central to his theory is the freeing of domestic financial markets to allow interest rates to reflect the true scarcity of capital in a developing economy. His analysis leads to a critique of prevailing monetary theory and to a new view of the relation between money and physical capital—a view with policy implications for governments striving to overcome the vicious circle of inflation and stagnation. Examining the performance of South Korea, Taiwan, Brazil, and other countries, the author suggests that their success or failure has depended primarily on steps taken in the monetary sector. He concludes that monetary reform should take precedence over other development measures, such as tariff and tax reform or the encouragement of foreign capital investment. In addition to challenging much of the conventional wisdom of development, the author's revision of accepted monetary theory may be relevant for mature economies that face monetary problems.

Looking beneath the surface of seemingly ordinary social interactions, The Moral Power of Money investigates the forces of power and morality at play, particularly among the poor. Drawing on fieldwork in a slum of Buenos Aires, Ariel Wilkis argues that money is a critical symbol used to negotiate not only material possessions, but also the political, economic, class, gender, and generational bonds between people. Through vivid accounts of the stark realities of life in Villa Olimpia, Wilkis highlights the interplay of money, morality, and power. Drawing out the theoretical implications of these stories, he proposes a new concept of moral capital based on different kinds, or "pieces," of money. Each chapter covers a different "piece"—money earned from the informal and illegal economies, money lent through family and market relations, money donated with conditional cash transfers, political money that binds politicians and their supporters, sacrificed money offered to the church, and safeguarded money used to support people facing hardships. This book builds an original theory of the moral sociology of money, providing the tools for understanding the role money plays in social life today.

Extremes in income and wealth inequality are leading us closer to a highly insecure and unstable economy. Neoclassical, monetarist, Keynesian, and other economic paradigms have proven inadequate to explain this phenomenon. ​While many books promote redistribution as an issue of fairness, Lawrence C. Marsh’s Optimal Money Flow explicitly sets aside the fairness issue to argue instead that redistribution is imperative for economic efficiency, stability, and maximum economic growth. Marsh introduces his unique money flow paradigm as the replacement for other economic paradigms that have failed at addressing the situation we face today. Marsh’s money flow paradigm views the flow of money to the top of the wealth pyramid as inherent, inevitable, and inexorable to the free enterprise system. This new paradigm requires that government assume its rightful responsibility to direct sufficient money flow from the top to the bottom (like a heart pumping blood throughout the body) in order to maximize employment, economic growth, and efficient resource allocation. In a healthy economy, the money then flows naturally back up to the top in a circulatory flow. Optimal Money Flow provides an abundance of stimulating, original ideas for readers who appreciate books at the intersection of economics and politics. One such idea is Marsh’s "My America" personal accounts. This new policy tool would serve as an alternative to the Fed buying US Treasury securities in New York financial markets, which just lowers interest rates and boosts stock and bond prices. Instead, a "My America" Federal Reserve bank account would be created for every American, into which money could be injected directly to provide consumers with cash to stimulate demand when the economy slows. Conservatives will appreciate two aspects of this approach: The people, not the government, decide how to spend the money, and it does not increase taxes or add to the national debt, while it simultaneously avoids excessive inflation through prudent monetary management. It also uses less money and has a more direct and immediate impact on consumer demand than the purchase of US Treasury securities. Lawrence Marsh sees government as the heart of the free enterprise system—where it does and should play an active part in maintaining and ensuring efficient and equitable resource allocation in an economy. Previous economic paradigms viewed government as an external, alien force outside the system, but Marsh promotes a very different approach. While he acknowledges there is efficiency in the market for ordinary goods and services, he sees contagion effects and inefficiency in many financial markets. With higher levels of globalization, low levels of unionization, and more rapid technological change, a new type of business cycle has emerged—one in which rising middle-class debt and stock market bubbles have replaced price and wage inflation as the source of economic instability. Marsh believes government can contribute to the efficiency of the free enterprise system by better aligning marginal costs and marginal benefits, and that in the long run, government can greatly enhance efficiency, productivity, and economic growth. Marsh also takes on the commonly held notion of a static fight over a fixed economic pie with the assertion that this view must be replaced with one of a dynamic process that maximizes the growth rate of the economic pie for everyone—by keeping the money flowing to all parts of the economy. Optimal Money Flow’s important message and unique proposals deliver a fresh view of the interconnectedness of the globe and an updated understanding of the underlying economic forces that shape our lives today—including international trade and how one country's decisions now impact the rest of the world. Readers will rethink their basic assumptions about the nature of economics and the role of government.