Carl Menger and the Evolution of Payments Systems: From Barter to Electronic Money

This book is unique in providing the first full English translation of Menger's seminal article Geld - one of the most influential papers on the origin of money. The editors aim to facilitate a broader and more detailed discussion of Menger's method, theory and findings with this translation and in depth analysis.Menger's institutional approach is applied and extended to the analysis of the evolution of payments systems, focusing in particular on electronic money, on its institutional character, and on monetary policy as well as predictions of likely future developments. Carl Menger and the Evolution of Payments Systems will be of great interest to financial economists and Austrian economists as well as historians of economic thought.

Table of Contents:
Contents: Introduction Part I: Carl Menger’s Article ‘Money’: From Barter to Money 1. Carl Menger’s Article ‘Money’ in the History of Economic Thought 2. Money Part II: Perspectives on the Evolution of Electronic Money 3. Carl Menger’s ‘Money’ and the Current Neoclassical Models of Money 4. Mengerian Perspectives on the Future of Money 5. The Institutional Character of Electronic Money Schemes: Redeemability and the Unit of Account Index

About the Author :
Edited by Michael Latzer, University of Zurich, Switzerland and Stefan W. Schmitz, Economist, Oesterreichische Nationalbank, Vienna, Austria

Review :
'The book edited by Michael Latzer and Stefan W. Schmitz is a very exciting book. It creates an intellectual link between the past and the future. It makes it possible for readers to better know the fundamental insights of Carl Menger about money; but it also provides an outstanding analysis of possible developments of electronic money, demonstrating that they cannot be understood without looking back at the theoretical debate about money initiated by Carl Menger. For those interested in money and its future, this book is unique.' 'This is a fascinating conglomeration of a book. The volume will appeal equally to historians of economic thought and to economists who wish to explore the implications of the recent emergence of electronic money. Seldom has the relevance of the Mengerian research tradition for understanding the evolution of contemporany social institutions been more powerfully demonstrated.' 'Carrying out this translation was a splendid idea. Menger has been enormously influential on the development of money - and his influence has been increasing in recent years. Yet this publication for the first time makes available in English his long article on "Money". It can now reach the audience it deserves. It reveals in full the distinctiveness of Menger's vision of historical development with its powerful case for the transactions cost explanation of the emergence of money. It has been set in context with admirable contributions from several leading scholars in the field. It will be widely used.' 'Carl Menger is of immense importance in the development of monetary economics. He built on the work of Adam Smith, showing how money evolved as a result of individuals trying to better themselves and was not, as some have claimed, an invention of a benevolent state. But despite Menger's importance, there is remarkably little written on him in English, and some even of his most important work remains untranslated. This excellent book goes far to remedy this situation. It is a major contribution to the history of economic thought. Furthermore it develops Menger's analysis of transactions so as to illuminate and advance discussions on the prospects for electronic money, an important topic in modern monetary theory. This is a fascinating, well written, and important book.'