La Monnaie Devoilee Pas Ses Crises, Volume 1: Crises Monetaires D'hier Et D'aujourd'hui; Volume 2: Crises Monetaires En Allemagne Et En Russie Au Xxe Siecle

摘要

Mainstream economists adhere to the view that the essential phenomena of economic life can be described in terms of goods and services (in 'real' terms) and that money is a 'veil over society', a 'neutral phenomenon', which leaves the real processes of the economy unaltered. These French scholars, of whom Michel Aglietta and Andre Orlean are the main theoreticians, are strongly influenced by anthropological thinking. Their central hypothesis is that money is the product of its social environment, that monetary phenomena have a social basis and are deeply connected with the values of society. Money has an element of sovereignty, which means that it is an expression of the social whole and cannot be reduced to its economic function as means of exchange. Money is based on debts and credit, on trust and on the sacred and ritual foundations of any social group, which is indicated with the term sovereignty. The 'debt of life' is the heart of social reproduction.