Brian Romanchuk — Money As Debt

Continuation of debate in progress.

Bond Economics
Money As Debt
Brian Romanchuk

David Graeber — The truth is out: money is just an IOU, and the banks are rolling in it

The Bank of England's dose of honesty throws the theoretical basis for austerity out the window.

The Guardian (18 March 2014)
The truth is out: money is just an IOU, and the banks are rolling in it

David Graeber

Evan Soltas — Bitcoin Really Is an Existential Threat to the Modern Liberal State

Bitcoin raises some interesting questions. One is whether it might undermine the modern state -- which, for many of its libertarian-anarchist advocates, is the whole idea.

Bloomberg
Bitcoin Really Is an Existential Threat to the Modern Liberal State
Evan Soltas
(h/t Lambert Strether at Naked Capitalism)

Jon Matonis — Bitcoin Obliterates "The State Theory Of Money"

The economic contribution of [Karl Denninger's] essay is that it represents the thesis advanced by German economist Georg Friedrich Knapp in The State Theory of Money (1924), an expose advocating the Chartalist approach to monetary theory claiming that money must have no intrinsic value and strictly be used as tokens issued by the government, or fiat money. Today, modern-day chartalists are from the school of thought known as Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).

Forbes
Bitcoin Obliterates "The State Theory Of Money"
Jon Matonis

Clint Balinger — Towards A Pure State Theory Of Money

MODERN MONETARY THEORY (MMT) notes correctly that money is a creature of the state, and that important macroeconomic and policy conclusions follow from this understanding, e.g., sovereign states are not revenue constrained and spending is primarily limited by inflation. Taxes give value to state money and maintain its value (i.e., inflation can be controlled through taxes).

One (among many) key policy insight is that a job guarantee is possible. A job guarantee not only achieves what many think should for myriad social reasons be a primary goal of macroeconomics but also further creates a buffer stock that achieves an additional primary macroeconomic policy goal – stability.

However, most of the world does not operate under pure state systems of money. Most of what serves as money in most banking systems in the world is privately created credit money.

We can compare the current most common banking system with a pure state system of money:....

Clint Balinger
Towards A Pure State Theory Of Money

Clint Balinger — Towards A Pure State Theory Of Money, Prologue: A Note On Knapp & Innes

...although a great deal of the suboptimal performance (sustained unemployment, lack of investment in infrastructure, education, and healthcare) has been due to a failure to understand and apply readily implementable state money & functional finance insights, there has also been another major source of economic suffering, resulting from the non-state-money side of the economy. The worldwide private credit money system has caused untold suffering and misery for millions. This side of the equation must be integrated into any functional finance insights that arose from Knapp, Innes, and others....

Clint Balinger
Towards A Pure State Theory Of Money, Prologue: A Note On Knapp & Innes

Stephen Zarlenga — Germany's 1923 Hyperinflation: A "Private" Affair

 Fascinating historical account of the Weimar hyperinflation that contradicts conventional "wisdom."

The Scriptorium
Germany's 1923 Hyperinflation: A "Private" Affair
Stephen Zarlenga
(h/t James in the comments)

AFP— Iraq unearths 1,400-year-old gold coins

Iraqi archaeologists have found 66 gold coins that are at least 1,400 years old, officials said on Monday, adding that they hope to put them on display in Baghdad’s National Museum.

The artefacts, which date back to the Sassanid era that extended from 225 BC to 640 AD, will be sent for laboratory tests in order to confirm their authenticity.

The Raw Story
Iraq unearths 1,400-year-old gold coins
Agence France-Presse

Keynes on the theory of money in 1914

Read it at Social Democracy for the 21st Century

Keynes on Metallism versus Chartalism in 1914

by "Lord Keynes"

Short and important historically in relation to MMT. Keynes endorsed Chartalism (state theory of money) and the credit theory of money very early in his career.