The latest chapter in my new 2024 edition ofThe End of Money and the Future of Civilization, has now been published. Here is an excerpt:
The entirety of money, banking, and finance is comprised of claims and obligations. — Thomas H. Greco, Jr.
It was in a dusty old bookshop close to the British Museum in London that I discovered a slim volume that was to complete for me the picture of how money has evolved over time. I had been traveling in Europe and the United Kingdom in the summer of 2001 with my then partner, Donna, attending conferences, meeting with friends and cohorts, and enjoying the sights, sounds, and cultures of the Old World. It was actually Donna who discovered the book in the basement stacks and brought it to me, saying, “What about this one?” The book was The Meaning of Money by Hartley Withers. Although I had already been engaged in intensive research into the subjects of money and banking for more than twenty years and had written three books of my own on the subject, I had not previously heard of Withers, but it was evident that he must have been, in his day, a recognized authority on the subject, and that his book must have served for a long time as a leading text; I surmised that from the fact that the volume I held in my hands was the seventh edition, published in 1947, of a work first published in 1909, and that Withers had been the editor of The Economist magazine from 1916 to 1921. Reading Withers crystallized my understanding of the double transformation that money had undergone during the previous three hundred years, an understanding that afforded a clearer comprehension of the nature and significance of the changes that have taken place, an understanding that prepares the ground from which to launch the next great improvement in the exchange process.
For now, you can read or listen to the entire chapter at Future Brightly:
Chapter 9—The Evolution of Money—From Commodity Money to Credit Money and Beyond-Text
Chapter 9—The Evolution of Money—From Commodity Money to Credit Money and Beyond-Audio narration
It will also be published soon here, and on my own Substack channel. Further chapters will continue to be posted as they are completed. Watch for Chapter 10 to be posted soon.
As always, your comments and suggestions are welcomed,
Thomas
Beyond Money 