What do we call money? An appraisal of the money-or-nonmoney view

Frasser, Cristian and Guzmán, Gabriel (2020): What do we call money? An appraisal of the money-or-nonmoney view. Published in: Journal of Institutional Economics No. 16 (2020): pp. 25-40.

Abstract

Part of the debate fueled by cryptocurrencies has revolved around the question of what we call money. This paper identifies two traditions in monetary theory that have tried to answer that question. On the one hand, the money-or-nonmoney view follows a strategy proposed by a version of philosophical essentialism in which there is a set of defining characteristics of money that make it categorically different from other things used in transactions. On the other hand, the liquidity degree view emphasizesthat the multiple objects that circulate as a means of payment differ in their degree of acceptability. Since there is not an absolute standard of liquidity, a precise dividing line between money and nonmoney cannot be drawn. We challenge the money-or-nonmoney view, arguing that there is nothing in the nature of money that can be interpreted as a natural kind essence by which money can be categorically separated from nonmoney.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: liquidity, money, essentialism, essences
• Subjects: B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B0 - General > B00 - General; B - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches > B4 - Economic Methodology > B41 - Economic Methodology; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E4 - Money and Interest Rates > E49 - Other

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