In coming to terms with the still smoldering financial crisis, little attention has been paid to the flaws within our monetary system and how these flaws lie at the root of the crisis. This book provides an introduction and critical assessment of the current monetary system. It begins with an up...

1. Introduction -- 2. European money and culture before 1914 -- 3. The 1920s: Lessons from Weimar -- 4. The Jazz Age: America in the 1920s -- 5. The money-haters: experiments in socialism -- 6. Europe between the world wars: a ferment of ideas -- 7. How Europe’s culture kept money under...

1. Why Another Book about Money? -- 2. Imagine a World Without Money -- 3. A Brief History of Money -- 4. Saving, Lending, Borrowing, and the Banking Sector -- 5. Central Banks, Monetary Policy, and the Economy -- 6. The Financial Crisis of 2007-2009 and the Great Recession -- 7. Economic Growth...

The Political Economy of Monetary and Financial Innovation by P. Bernholz and R. Vaubel.- Silver as a Financial Tool in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia by M. Van De Mieroop.- War and Peace, Imitation and Innovation, Backwardness and Development by D.M. Schaps -- The Emergence and Spread of Coins...

Frontmatter -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Contents -- About the Authors -- Part I: Money and Society -- Chapter 1. A Great Human Invention: The Role of Money in Society -- Chapter 2. Why Some People Have So Much Money and Others Have So Little -- Part II: Central Banks and Global Finance --...