Alternative systems to current money and currency

May 8, 2012 8:21 AM

Money: who are the current deep thinkers about money, monetary systems, currency, global flow of cash... and alternative systems and options.

The only one I know of is Bernard Lietaer, but I'd be interested in reading anyone with alternative theories of how value can be exchanged in modern society.

posted by HopStopDon'tShop to Work & Money (4 answers total)

If you haven't read Tyler Cowen, I'd recommend him. It's more pure economics that monetary theory, but an interesting viewpoint.
posted by readery at 8:44 AM on May 8, 2012

Best answer: David Greber recently wrote a fascinating book about money called Debt: The First 5,000 Years. It starts in deep history, looks and many anthropological models and brings it up through the present day, dealing with monetary and non-monetary exchanges and forms of debt.
posted by slogger at 10:41 AM on May 8, 2012

I really enjoyed Douglas Rushkoff's book Life Inc. It covers several of the economic topics you're interested in, but more from a sociological perspective instead of academic.
posted by upplepop at 3:04 PM on May 8, 2012

Honestly, I can't see the point of "alternative currencies" even though factions of both the left and the right are enamored with them -- it seems like whatever replaces existing currency would need many of the same properties to adequately replace it. Otherwise, we're just talking stone age technology or some kind of Cory Doctorow BS.

But I did like Niall Ferguson's book Ascent of Money and plan to read more from him in the future. Reviewing Bernard Lietaer's wiki page though, you might be interested in NPR's coverage of the Brazilian Real. It's really not even that "alternative" an idea; economists use inflation adjusted numbers everywhere, using a "basket of goods", and some ETFs use a similar principle exploiting market arbitragers to keep things in check.
posted by pwnguin at 12:16 AM on May 9, 2012