Money and Capital: A Critique of Monetary Thought, the Dollar and Post-Capitalism PDF
Preview Money and Capital: A Critique of Monetary Thought, the Dollar and Post-Capitalism
MONEY AND CAPITAL This book renews the Marxian theory of the general equivalent by highlighting the contradiction between the social functions of money (unit of account, means of circulation) and its private functions (store of value, accumulation). It draws a clear distinction between the monetary base and the c ommodity base of money and thus avoids the confusion between money and credit on the one hand, and money and capital on the other, which are found in other heter- odox monetary theories. It accounts for the new forms of monetary constraints weighing on the banking systems under and inconvertible fiat money standard, the class relationships underlying the interventions of monetary authorities and governments, and presents a definition of the state which emphasises its mode of intervention on the collective and social conditions of capitalisms which are money and labour power. The emphasis on the contradiction between these two types of monetary functions gives a more fundamental account of the conflict between the international role and the national origin of the dollar than the Triffin dilemma, which has been constantly overcome or deferred by the US since 1960. The author explains this evolution by demonstrating how, from the 1950s onwards, the dollar began a process of acquiring relative autonomy from the US economy. By focusing on the role and international functions of the dollar, he offers a fresh look at the 2008 crisis and its consequences for the inter- national monetary system, but also for a possible post-capitalist financial system – which post-revolutionary Russia experimented with in the form of the NEP, and whose contemporary implementation is foreshadowed by the rise of digital central bank currencies. The book thereby provides a necessary update to the tools and concepts inherited from Marx for analysing and understanding money, capital and the state. Laurent Baronian is an Assistant Professor in Economics at the University Sorbonne Paris Nord, France. His research interests include the history of eco- nomic thought, monetary theory and history, labour in the age of information and communication technologies, and the theory and practice of the commons. Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy Globalization and the Decline of American Power The Political Economy of the American Fall Cyrus Bina Marx and Le Capital Evaluation, History, Reception Edited by Marcello Musto Permanent Economic Disorder Shahzavar Karimzadi Temporary Economic Crises Shahzavar Karimzadi Money and Capital A Critique of Monetary Thought, the Dollar and Post-Capitalism Laurent Baronian Modern Money and the Rise and Fall of Capitalist Finance Trusts, Personae, and Indebtedness Jongchul Kim Innovation, Complexity and Economic Evolution From Theory to Policy Pier Paolo Saviotti For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ Routledge-Frontiers-of-Political-Economy/book-series/SE0345 MONEY AND CAPITAL A Critique of Monetary Thought, the Dollar and Post-Capitalism Laurent Baronian First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Laurent Baronian The right of Laurent Baronian to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Baronian, Laurent, author. Title: Money and capital : a critique of monetary thought, the dollar and post-capitalism / Laurent Baronian. Description: 1 Edition. | New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. Identifiers: LCCN 2022036726 (print) | LCCN 2022036727 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Money—Social aspects. | Dollar, American. | Capital. | Capitalism. | Monetary policy. Classification: LCC HG221 .B326 2023 (print) | LCC HG221 (ebook) | DDC 332.4—dc23/eng/20220926 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022036726 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022036727 ISBN: 978-0-367-20405-1 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-42425-5 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-26129-9 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9780429261299 Typeset in Bembo by codeMantra In memory of François Chesnais CONTENTS Introduction 1 I.1 The money of the Greeks: the other before the gods 1 I.2 The two modes of being of money in economic thought 3 I.3 Anal eroticism and phylogeny of capitalism 6 I.4 Outline of the book 12 PART 1 The modes of being of money 17 1 Money, its modes of being and its functions 19 1.1 Marx against monetary utopias 19 1.2 The market society and its object 22 1.3 The two modes of being and the contradictory functions of money 24 1.4 The ambivalence of the value-measurement function and the ideality of the unit of account 25 1.5 The social and private functions of interest-bearing capital 28 1.6 The necessities of money and the possibility of crises 30 1.7 Note on Hilferding’s monetary theory 33 2 The paradoxes of the Currency school-Banking school debate 38 2.1 Return to the function of money as a means of payment 38 2.2 The two sides of the fetishism of finance capital 40 2.3 The confusions of the banker’s political economy 43
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