Dear Michael:
The statement -
All time-consuming production of goods and services is predicated
on
Credit - in one form or another.
That is to say, Credit - "money" - precedes, and is pre-condition, for
Government Taxation. -
Credit - in one form or another.
That is to say, Credit - "money" - precedes, and is pre-condition, for
Government Taxation. -
concerns "Credit - in one form or another."
That would include societal arrangements where "the large public
institutions" and/or "the chieftains' households...fed all members."
In other words, reciprocal obligations whereby "People did
what they were assigned to do, and nobody starved or was deprived of the means
of livelihood," represent "Credit - in one form or another," as in "You do this
and, in exchange, I do that."
More generally, Credit "in one form or another" entered
history the moment the first set of two or more
individuals joined forces in time-consuming production, contributing
inputs thereto on the implicit or explicit understanding that, by doing
so, they acquired commensurate claims to future
output.
Or, as Chris has put it, there is a Double-Helix aspect to all joint
production efforts, with Division of Labor on one strand interwoven with
Credit on the other.
Gunnar
----- Original Message -----From: Hudsonmi@xxxxxxxCc: wrayr@xxxxxxxxSent: Saturday, September 13, 2003 1:43 PMSubject: Re: [gang8] Re: Putting Chartalism In Its Place?Dear Gunnar,
Your statement that credit begins when there is a division (specialization) of labor actually is not correct.
The first such specialization occurred within the large public institutions of Mesopotamia, or the chieftains' households in less centralized economies. These households fed all members. There was no credit. People did what they were assigned to do, and nobody starved or was deprived of the means of livelihood.
The credit you mention -- formal interest-bearing debt -- was extended BY the public institutions TO the rest of the economy. The economy had to pay the large institutions -- in barley or silver, or whatever surplus they produced, that is, commodities and services that were assigned prices comeasurable with silver and barley (of equal value per unit in the early Mesopotamian bimontary standard).
There is no realistic theory of money that leaves out the centrality of the public sector.
Michael
Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
ADVERTISEMENT
The gang8 list is devoted to Creditary Economics.
To unsubscribe, email: gang8-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.