PHIL252
FALL 2014
Philosophy of Money

Here is the course syllabus.

Check back periodically for additional readings or information.

For week of 9/9 -- G. F. Knapp's The State Theory of Money (1924) -- PDF here

You'll recall from the syllabus that I will be posting questions for weekly response.  These need be no longer than a paragraph, provided that they demonstrate active engagement with the material.  They may be direct answers to a question, or sometimes a question or reflection of your own.  These can simply be an email to me, but (a) send it from your BSU account as opposed to your personal account, and (b) put "Weekly response #x" in the subject line, where x=the actual number.  Email them back to me by Sunday afternoon.  So:
Weekly response #1:  by section 2, Knapp has introduced the term "chartal" - what does he mean by that, and why does he think that's what money has to be?

For week of 9/16 -- chapter VIII of Carl Menger's Principles of Economics -- on line here
Weekly response #2: this short video  combines an account of money's origins with an explanation of inflation.  Is this analysis Mengerian? Explain.

Amusing and mostly-relevant student-made video on Mengerian subjective value.

9/23 - working through chapter 1 of the Simmel book.  Weekly response #3:  on page 73, he makes an analogy with aesthetic value.  Explain what he's trying to show, and whether you think the analogy works.

REMINDER:  Next Tuesday, Sept 30, we will meet in the Conant Auditorium (Science bldg) rather than our usual classroom so we can hear a guest speaker.  Roll will be taken, this counts as a regular class meeting.

Weekly response #4 -- your thoughts on Prof. Powell's talk.

The additional reading for this week is Ludwig von Mises - his book The Theory of Money and Credit is available entirely online, here: http://www.econlib.org/library/Mises/msT.html -- Chapters 1,2, and 7 seem most relevant to what we’ve been talking about, especially with respect to Chapter 3 of Simmel.  Also, Chapter 1 of his book Human Action is directly on-point.  That's online too: http://www.econlib.org/library/Mises/HmA/msHmA.html

Weekly response #5 -- in Human Action, what does Mises mean by "praxeology"?  How does Mises' understanding of human action compare with Simmel's?

Marx on Alienation: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/preface.htm

Weekly response #6:  reflect on whether Simmel or Marx is more accurately describing the effects of a money economy.

Reading for next week: the same link to Mises' book Human Action, above, but now see chapters 11, 12, 25 and 26.

Week of 10/20 - no weekly response, but here is the first paper assignment.  This should be a WORD document (meaning a .doc or a .docx) formatted thus: 3-5 pages, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font, page numbering on, your name, date, and PHIL252 top left of first page - but then email it to me as an attachment from your @bridgew address.
This is due in my inbox 9:00 am Wednesday Nov 5.
Topic:  read chapter I of Marx's Critique of the Gotha Programme.  Then reexamine chapters 11, 12, 25, 26 of Human Action.  Evaluate the role of money (or the absence of money) in the planned economy Marx describes.  Is Mises' criticism a valid one, or does Marx have a better solution than Mises understands?

It's hard to imagine teaching a course like this and not including the famous speech by Francisco D'Anconia on the meaning of money from Ayn Rand's 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged.  Have a look at that, and then have a look at this essay by economist Steven Horwitz in which he explains the philosophy of money underlying it.

Week of Nov 4: Here are some readings on Bitcoin.  Tucker More Tucker Carden Patterson  Tucker again   Weekly response #7: your thoughts on Bitcoin, given what we've learned this semester so far about money.

Further reading, more sophisticated.  (Scroll down to where it says "download PDF")

Government, banks, and money.  The "metal vs fiat" debate is not identical with the "central bank vs free banking" debate, but they are related.  See this video and this video.  Then, this research paper.

Week of Nov 18:  We talked in class about the idea that inflation and stimulus spending are good on one model and bad on another - on the first, the idea is that these are useful and possibly necessary tools to respond to a serious situation; on the second, the idea is that these activities exacerbate and are even responsible for the problems in the first place.  The leading proponent in the 20th century of the former is J. M. Keynes; his main intellectual opposite is F. A. Hayek.   Weekly response #8:  watch this rap video and reflect on which model seems more plausible.  (NB: this video is what gave me the idea to use the hangover metaphor; the nightclub example was my own.) 

Week of 12/2 - No more weekly response.  Begin work on 2nd paper.  Due Friday 12/12, 3:00 pm.  As before, this should be a WORD document (meaning a .doc or a .docx) formatted thus: 3-5 pages, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point Times New Roman font, page numbering on, your name, date, and PHIL252 top left of first page, then emailed as an attachment from your @bridgew address.  Topic: Choose ONE of these prompts.
(1) Besides using inflation to cover costs such as war, some argue that it's helpful to create inflation to relieve the burden on consumers with high debt.  Do you think so, or not?  Why or why not? 
(2) expand on weekly response #7 - is it right to consider Bitcoin money, and is it a good thing or not?

Something on pennies here.  Also: in Canada, they have already done it.  See here.
Follow-up (from a couple weeks ago) on monetary policy and the Depression here.