The Lost Science of Money: The Mythology of Money - The Story of Power

Rating:
Summary: A good historical perspective but little science or solution
Review:
- A Book Review by Thomas H. Greco, Jr.
The Lost Science of Money: The Mythology of Money - the Story of Power by Stephen Zarlenga
(The American Monetary Institute, PO Box 601, Valatie, NY, 2002. Hardcover, 724 pages. ISBN 1-930748-03-5)

Zarlenga's book attempts to do two things, first, to describe the dimensions of the "money problem" by tracing its roots, not only in economics and finance, but also in ethics, religion, and politics; and second, to prescribe, in broad outline at least, a solution. In the first instance it is mostly successful, but in the second, it falls far short.

This massive treatise (more than 700 pages) recounts the history of money from early times, providing an interesting historical overview based on a wide variety of sources. It is a scholarly, well researched, and insightful account of the evolution of money, banking, and finance, in which the author argues that "a main arena of human struggle is over the monetary control of societies..," and shows how the money power has historically rivaled that of governments. All that is well and good; the story of money IS the story of power, and the author tells it well. It is, indeed unfortunate that few people today realize the important political implications that are inherent in the control over money and banking, or that such control has typically been in the hands of elite private interests. This well researched history goes a long way toward clearing away the fog that has enshrouded that bastion of privilege.

The title promises to tell us about "the lost science of money," but there is little in it that would qualify as scientific. The author's subtitle, "The Mythology of Money - The Story of Power," would have been far more appropriate as a title. While I can appreciate the author for the major contribution he has made to our understanding of the evolution of money, banking, and centralized power, I must also say that the conclusions he draws and his proposed reforms are less than helpful.

It is not until the very last chapter that we see anything of proposed solutions. That is just as well, for his reform proposals are ill considered and anything but original, directing us into another blind alley of centralized control.

In a mere 28 pages, he manages to dismiss every other approach to a solution which he has ever heard of, then propose that the money monopoly be reestablished under new management. He gives short shrift to the whole alternative exchange movement - mutual credit clearing associations, LETS, and community currencies, and, does not even mention the commercial "barter" industry, thus revealing that he has not yet educated himself about the essential nature of the exchange process, contemporary methods, and the possibilities offered by voluntary, popular, and private approaches.

His critique of the "free money" movement covers less than a single page. If Zarlenga has any knowledge at all of the free money and free banking theories, it is not apparent. Likewise, his critique of the local currency movement is similarly uninformed. Again, in less than a page he dismisses it as worse than irrelevant, seeing it as a distraction from the "real" work of reform (the centralist, government-oriented approach).

His approach is both reformist and centralist, and shows no appreciation for the role of scale in making the system dysfunctional in the first place. Nor does he offer any strategy for achieving the massive reform he proposes. Having described so carefully the corrupting effects that result from centralizing the money power, it is curious that the author asks us to accept it when under the control of politicians and bureaucrats. Does he not see that the political and financial elites are in cahoots, and indeed are the same people.

Well, no one volume can hope to be competent in addressing all aspects of a problem, so we should appreciate this book for what it is rather than condemn it for what it isn't. Despite it's shortcomings, this is an important book. In sum, it is an admirable contribution to our understanding of power dynamics in today's world, and the singular importance of the democratization of the monetary power to enabling lives of dignity, freedom, and fulfillment for all.
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Rating:
Summary: The History of Money Redeemed
Review: After a decade-plus of intensive research in the monetary arena, Stephen Zarlenga has authored a book titled "The Lost Science of Money." It is a truly monumental work that, I believe, reconstitutes the history of money, and the essence of its nature, in a way that does not, and might not ever, otherwise exist. It documents this crucial, but long neglected field of study, in a manner that does justice to the finest standards of scholarship, while at the same time rendering in a subject that in lesser hands might produce a tedious tome, a lively narrative that is accessible to the interested layman. It is a good read; a page-turner even. It paints a sensitive and intelligent historical panorama that transcends the gaudier narrations of wars, rulers and empires commonly proffered by more orthodox historians. To state that it constitutes an urgently needed service to the human race is more understatement than hype. It provides the intellectual basis for comprehending the monetary undercurrent that has shaped and driven civilization. It is simply not possible to realize who we are, how we got here, and the options for the future without an understanding of what is delineated in this epic work.

Rating:
Summary: If you only read one book about money this is the one.
Review: Having read numerous books on the issues of money systems I can say without equivocation this is the best by far of any I have come across including many of the Austrian economics books and those by Rothbard. All of them have their perspectives but Zarlenga's work and conclusions are a synthesis from history, well documented, and ring true on deep gut level. He makes his case very well and there is no hype or misplaced emotion as there are in many works on the money issues. Taken as a history book alone I would give the book 5 stars. Too many people, including me, have been ignorant of the historical roots of money and Zarlenga helps us to learn the dramas, political games, and debasement of money systems through the ages. It is fascinating and shocking story. What is taking place in the world now, including the Federal Reserve and World Bank is a slight variation of the historical power struggles over the control of money that go back thousands of years. The most informative issues that come out of this work is the history of gold and silver as money and how they are fiat currencies just like any other proclaimed currency. The money powers, governments, and kings have at various times decreed gold to be money (fiat) as they stood to benefit from it. Yes, gold can't be created out of nothing but it is just as fiat as a dollar bill. As a defender of the gold standard I have to admit that my notions of the gold standard have been flipped upside down even though I have read many of the Mises Institutes books. I can't say that a commodity-based money may not be useful or that the connection between paper money and its basis in gold adds integrity to the system but I do believe now that the issues is not black and white, gold or paper money. What Zarlenga elegantly makes clear is that all money, short of direct barter of goods, has always been a creature of law, i.e. someone decrees it so. As such it is open to abuse and perversion. The book, Subtitled " The Mythology of Money, the Story of Power", does a great service in taking the mythology issues and presenting them in a factual and understandable way. What I like about this book is it is common sense, down to earth, expertly researched and presented in a way that avoids the curse of too much economics jargon and pseudo-science. Money is not particle physics and it is an issue that touches each and every one of us every day. Money has, and continues to shape culture and the direction of life. Leaving the control of money, which seems to me to function as a sort of cultural economic DNA, to a private and secretive group of world elites is a recipe for life out of balance on all levels. It invites exploitation and abuse and as history show there has been much of that concerning the control of money.

Regarding the comments from a prior reviewer of the book who was somewhat critical of the work I disagree with his comment that the book does not give specific solutions. I got the sense that the reviewer wanted economic equations and esoteric pogroms that he could espouse as a scientific look at money. Money, at its roots is no more scientific than sex. Sure, you can define sex with all the science in the world but the gist of it is personal and well known to all of us. People get heated up over the issue of sex and everyone has an opinion. Money is no exception and taking the understanding and control of money and wrapping it up in academic polemics is simply a way to convince us that we need accredited experts to help us. Try that with sex and see what happens. The kinds of solutions that are needed are social and political. Zarlengas effort was not to micro-manage the topic but to show us the lay of the land and give us the broader concepts and tools to regain the control of societies money. It belongs to all of us and is part and parcel to human life and commerce. Just as "We The People" are the foundation and source of the authority for our constitution, we should also be the foundation and final arbiter of our money system. There is little difference between a dictatorship of the societal political process or the societal money process. Concentrated in the hands of the few leads to perverse distortion and societal destruction.

In my 50 years or so of life I have only a handful of books that I think are must-reads and this is one of them. With three sons all out of college and in their twenties this is one of the books I am getting for each of them to read. It is that important. I give this book 5 stars. It is a tour de force of excellent research and common sense analysis.

Rating:
Summary: The Hidden History of Money and Banking
Review: This book is a "keeper"! It offers a wealth of valuable information about the history of money and banking in Western Civilization that will be indispensible for all students of history, particularly those interested in the reform of money and banking systems. It offers information that is very difficult to find elsewhere, and is the key to an in-depth understanding of history, in terms of the power exercised through the control of money. Despite all this, it is quite readable.

I recall my "honors" course in the humanities at Ohio State in which I was assigned to write a paper on some aspect of ancient history. I chose the subject of money, as I thought this would offer the perfect opportunity to explore a subject which had been the object of my curiosity for some years. I spent hours searching the resources of the university library, with precious little result. I remember discovering information about the silver mining efforts of the Romans, but being generally frustrated in my search. When the dust settled, I had learned very little, and my focus returned to the physical sciences for the remainder of my college days. Much later, I came to read history as a hobby, but continued to be frustrated in my search for information about the role of money in history. With this background, reading Mr. Zarlenga's book was like drinking nectar. If only it had been available during my college days! It answered nearly all the questions about monetary history I've harbored since college.

Every citizen should read this book; it has the potential to light the path to reforms that might save the present incarnation of Western Civilization from self-destruction. It will be a classic.

Rating:
Summary: The Hidden History of Money and Banking
Review: This book is a "keeper"! It offers a wealth of valuable information about the history of money and banking in Western Civilization that will be indispensible for all students of history, particularly those interested in the reform of money and banking systems. It offers information that is very difficult to find elsewhere, and is the key to an in-depth understanding of history, in terms of the power exercised through the control of money. Despite all this, it is quite readable.

I recall my "honors" course in the humanities at Ohio State in which I was assigned to write a paper on some aspect of ancient history. I chose the subject of money, as I thought this would offer the perfect opportunity to explore a subject which had been the object of my curiosity for some years. I spent hours searching the resources of the university library, with precious little result. I remember discovering information about the silver mining efforts of the Romans, but being generally frustrated in my search. When the dust settled, I had learned very little, and my focus returned to the physical sciences for the remainder of my college days. Much later, I came to read history as a hobby, but continued to be frustrated in my search for information about the role of money in history. With this background, reading Mr. Zarlenga's book was like drinking nectar. If only it had been available during my college days! It answered nearly all the questions about monetary history I've harbored since college.

Every citizen should read this book; it has the potential to light the path to reforms that might save the present incarnation of Western Civilization from self-destruction. It will be a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Massive historical detail with a cogent message
Review: This book provides a huge service to understanding one of the most central and powerful artifacts in human civilization: money. The brilliance of Zarlenga's treatment of this subject and what makes it stand out from others, is that while including massive historical detail and richness, he brings a cogent message about money that anyone (viz. the non-specialist) can walk away with. And it is, that money systems are designed by the intelligence of humans and established and empowered through a collective authority. Thus, the more all of society understands money and willingly participates in backing its authority, the greater the possibility that it will serve all people, and not private elites who may be tempted to structure its design in their favor. This single human innovation - money - has many alternative ways of being socially constructed and politically established as a means of exchange. Get the design right, and the quality of life for all people can be dramatically altered. The structural design of money will directly affect the degree to which individual market action will be morally and socially responsible. Getting the money system right can lead to the alignment of individual and collective action of people. This understanding that money is a human-specified tool (and not some mystical object that we all use but don't really know where it came from or how it works) is so important in birthing a new awareness around emergent economic and market behavior. To me, this kind of writing is a great examplar of how economics should be performed: taking a historical perspective to see what worked and what didn't work. The metaphysical clap-trap around money, as well as the professional economist's mathematical obfuscations are avoided. Seeing it for what it truly is - a designable artifact - is really the gift of this study. Highly recommended, and in my recent reading, complements Kevin Phillips', Wealth and Democracy.