1st Edition

Economics, Anthropology and the Origin of Money as a Bargaining Counter

By Patrick Spread Copyright 2023
318 Pages
by Routledge

318 Pages
by Routledge

318 Pages
by Routledge

For many decades economists have disputed with economic anthropologists over the origins of money. Economists claim that money emerged from barter exchange; anthropologists claim that it originated as a ‘unit of account’ in the temples and palaces of ancient Mesopotamia. This book argues that money originated as a bargaining counter in a system of money-bargaining, emerging almost seamlessly from... Read more

Introduction

Introduction to Support-Bargaining and Money-Bargaining

Chapter 1: Support, Support-Bargaining and Social Debt

Chapter 2: Support, Violence, Homer, Malinowski

Chapter 3: Support and the Organisation of Faith

Chapter 4: Intellectual Support-Bargaining and Frames of Reference

Chapter 5: Polanyi, Gifts and Markets

Chapter 6: Words, Maths and Money

Chapter 7: Barter, Credit and Money

Chapter 8: Graeber, Smith and Capitalism

Chapter 9: State Money and Corporate Budgets

Chapter 10: Knapp, Keynes and the State Theory of Money

Chapter 11: Coins and Greek Feasts

Chapter 12: Conclusion: Money as a Bargaining Counter

Biography

Patrick Spread graduated from Trinity College, Oxford, UK and received a PhD from the London Business School. This is his ninth book based on the theory of support-bargaining and money-bargaining. In his career he has mixed theoretical research with work as an economic adviser and consultant to governments and economic development agencies.