The Monetary System

CHAPTER 9 The New Nature of Money in Electronic Times

“Caius Plinius to Julius Valerianus: Hello. It is a small case, but the beginning of a not small business – Pretorian Senator Sollers asked the Senate for authorization to open a marketplace on his land. The Vicentin¹ representatives have spoken against. Tuscillius Niminatus defended the case. The case was postponed…”

— Pliny the younger, V4,1 (author’s own translation)

If money has changed conceptually, it still needs to be organized within a legal set-up to achieve several social goals that require visibility about sampling and sufficient stability for trust. Without the raw material basis that was considered in Bretton Woods times, today’s money consists merely of a face value – a number existing along a time dimension – which is different from the concept of a calendar recording our human schedules.

Money’s measurement is volatile, and therefore must be based on multiple factors: supply and demand, pressure due to availability over time of both goods and services, and the diameter and length of the pipeline allowing money’s flow in determined volumes. This flow, with the speed attached, will determine supply and demand like in a thermodynamic system. The interaction of money with human behaviour must still be comprehended if humans’ financial and consumer profiles are to be defined and analysed. Such an analysis is possible today thanks to the evolution of electronic purchasing and resulting marketing strategies. As ...