The most difficult things to think about are often the ones that are closest to us and most taken for granted. This principle applies very much to the issue of money. We use money every day and money is a key component in many of our interactions with other people as well as in our perceptions of the things surrounding us. Nevertheless, the fundamental nature and functioning of money remains for the most part taken for granted. This is the case even in many disciplines in economics. The purpose of this course is to enable students to question and reflect upon our taken for granted ideas about money.

The course present a number of different perspectives on the understanding of money and the analysis of phenomenon related to money. These perspectives are presented in the form of sociological and philosophical theories as well as in the form of empirical analysis.

These are some of the themes to be addressed in the course:

Money in Financial Markets

How can we approach financial markets as objects of philosophical and sociological study? Which kinds of knowledge are involved in financial trading? What is the philosophical background of the notion of market efficiency? What is the relation between philosophical and financial speculation?

From Capitalism to Financialism

What are the societal implications, when economic organisation comes to revolve around financial markets? What is the historical background for the emergence of financial capitalism?

Prices

What is a price? How do prices emerge? What is the relation between value and price?

Money and Gambling

What is the difference between gambling and other forms of economic interaction? What happens to money in gambling?

Money and Art

How has questions of money been dealt with in the world of art? What happens to money, when they become piece of an art work? How does money function in the constitution of an object as a piece of art?

Alternative Currencies

How is money created in our contemporary system of currency? What are the alternatives to this system? How do local currencies function?

The course literature includes excerpts from the following works:

Bjerg, O. (2011). Poker - The Parody of Capitalism. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Goodchild, P. (2007): Theology of Money. Canterbury Press Norwich

Greco, T. (2001): Money - understanding and creating alternatives to legal tender. Chelsea Green

Greta R. Kippner (2005), “The Financialization of the American Economy”, Socio-Economic Review, 3, 173-.

Lawrence E. Mitchell (2009), “The Morals of the Marketplace: A Cautionary Essay for Our Time”, Stanford Law & Policy Review, 20, 171-.

MacKenzie, D. (2006). An Engine, Not a Camera. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press 2008.

Robert B. Reich (2007), “Supercapitalism”, New York: Random House,

Samuelson, P. A. (1965). Proof that properly anticipated prices fluctuate randomly. Management Review, 6.

Simmel, G.: The Philosophy of Money.

Zaloom, C. (2006). Out of the pits: Traders and technology from Chicago to London. University of Chicago Press.

Zelizer, Viviana. The Social Meaning of Money. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1999.