Michael Hudson and L. Randall Wray on Historical Evolution of Money and Debt

Two very interesting talks here by Michael Hudson and L. Randall Wray (both from the University of Missouri-Kansas City) on the nature of modern money and the history of money.

These talks were held at an interdisciplinary seminar series at Columbia Law School called “Modern Money and Public Purpose 1: The Historical Evolution of Money and Debt” (September 11, 2012). The moderator is William V. Harris (Professor of history and director, Center for the Ancient Mediterranean, Columbia University), who has a fine publication record on ancient Greek and Roman monetary history (see Harris 2008, 2011).





BIBLIOGRAPHY

Harris, W. V. 2008. “The Nature of Roman Money,” in W. V. Harris (ed.), The Monetary Systems of the Greeks and Romans. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 174–207.

Harris, W. V. 2011. Rome’s Imperial Economy. Twelve Essays. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Michael Hudson Talk on the History of Money

A talk by Michael Hudson at a joint seminar on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and Monetary Circuit Theory, which was held at the Fields Institute (Canada) on July 3rd, 2012.

Hudson talks about the history of money, with some good background on the debt theory of money, and money in ancient Mesopotamia. For the published work of Hudson on the origins of money, see here:

Hudson, M. 2003. “The Creditary/Monetarist Debate in Historical Perspective,” in S. A. Bell and E. J. Nell (eds), The State, the Market, and the Euro: Chartalism versus Metallism in the Theory of Money, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. 39–76.

Hudson, M. 2004. “The Archaeology of Money: Debt Versus Barter Theories of Money’s Origins,” in L. R. Wray (ed.), Credit and State Theories of Money: the Contributions of A. Mitchell Innes, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham. 99–127.

Hudson, M. 2004. “The Development of Money-of-Account in Sumer’s Temples,” in M. Hudson and C. Wunsch (eds.), Creating Economic Order: Record-Keeping, Standardization, and the Development of Accounting in the Ancient Near East, CDL Press, Bethesda, MD. 303–329.

The sound is not the best!

Steve Keen on the History of Money

A nice video interview here with Steve Keen, where he discusses money, credit and debt. He also deals with a good many another issues in economics.

In video 1, Keen mentions the work of David Graeber (which I have examined myself), and the widespread existence of reciprocal gift exchange in many human societies, rather than barter spot trades, and how the barter origin of money as a universal theory is a myth.