The Science of Money
Domain: Heterodox Economics
Financial Markets and Bank Treasury Professional
About the Course
What is money, really? A social contract, a state monopoly, a representation of value, or a collective hallucination? If we were to design a monetary system on Mars, would we choose a commodity standard, fiat currency, or decentralized crypto? And in a post-labor society, would we still need money?
In this course, we contrast mainstream ideas with provocative alternative perspectives, questioning underlying assumptions and critically assessing arguments. Through a blend of lecture and guided discussion, you will learn how modern banking creates money and evaluate debates around national debt, gold standard, trade tariffs, and crypto currencies. By the end of the course, you will have a rigorous mental model of how money works, allowing you to navigate personal finances more intelligently and assess economic claims made by politicians.
The course culminates in a computational project: building a minimal model of an economy in Mathematica and experimenting with policy levers such as taxes and interest rates.
There will be twelve 90-minute virtual meetings over the course of three months. The group will produce and publish (individually or collaboratively) one or more computational essays as a final product.
Week 1: Before Money Existed: The Barter Story vs. The Anthropological Challenge
Week 2: What Even Is Money: Gold vs. IOU
Week 3: National Debt: a Ticking Time Bomb or Just a Scoreboard Number?
Week 4: License to Print: Do Banks Lend Savings or Conjure Money from Nothing?
Week 5: Money in Motion: Traditional Finance Infrastructure vs. Blockchain
Week 6: Politics of Money: Bailouts, Trade, Globalization
Week 7: In Code We Trust: State Money vs. Decentralized Crypto Money
Week 8: Future of Money
Week 9-12: Capstone Project
Reading and Video Resources:
The Island of Stone Money by Milton Friedman – A witty and engaging short essay and a playful mirror of modern finance.
Witch’s Money by John Collier – A satirical short story that teases the reader into questioning what gives money its value.
Debt: The First 5,000 Years by David Graeber – An anthropological investigation into the origins and evolution of money, challenging mainstream economic narratives.
Soft Currency Economics by Warren Mosler – A foundational paper that outlines the core tenets of Modern Monetary Theory.
A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram (sections on “Financial Systems” and “Models of markets”) – questions the realism of equilibrium and optimization models, suggesting markets exhibit randomness and economic systems are examples of broader computational processes across domains.
The Future of the Monetary System – Bank of International Settlements Annual Economic Report (21 June 2022)
Post-Labor Economics (PLE) – A series of five video lectures by David Shapiro.
Ready to explore new ideas?
Take the next step in your intellectual journey.