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By Prof. Bruno COLMANT, Ph.D., Member of the Royal Academy of Belgium
There are as many answers to the question of money as there are economists. Money is an elusive concept since it is a symbolic expression that has become an asset. Its existence, or rather its non-existence in its natural state, is a matter of metaphysics.
But money is much more than a simple economic asset: it is a means of communication and a social construct. Money structures a political community. It measures collective utility. French sociologist Marcel Mauss (1872-1950) described money as a "total social fact." Moreover, money enables the accumulation of power and the centralization of authority. It establishes a social hierarchy, reflecting its political function...
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