The value paradox of money

Money as a store of
value?

Money as a
representation of
value?
Structure of the lecture
1.
Economic value lies in the
natural environment
2.
Economic value lies in human
labour
3.
Economic value lies in
subjective understandings of
marginal utility
1. Economic value lies in the
natural environment - Andes

Gudeman and Rivera

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Value stems from
the earth
Strength circulates
between man and
earth
Hierarchical
reciprocity
Natural and
spiritual entities
1. Economic value lies in the
natural environment - Physiocrats

Physis – „nature“,
kratos – „power“

Agriculture as source
of all value

Industry and
commerce as „sterile“
2. Economic value lies in human
work – Andes (Laymi in Bolivia)

Olivia Harris


Work as valuable in
and of itself
Work as
foundational
activity of social life

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Gender
Household
Community
Personhood
2. Economic value lies in human
work – Adam Smith
[money and certain goods] indeed, save us […] toil. They contain
the value of a certain quantity of labour, which we exchange
for what is supposed at the time to contain the value of an equal
quantity. Labour was the first price, the original purchase
money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver,
but by labour, that all the wealth of the world was
originally purchased; and its value, to those who possess it, and
who want to exchange it for some new productions, is precisely
equal to the quantity of’ labour which it can enable them to
purchase or command.” (Smith: 1976, Chapter V)
“labour alone […] never varying in its own value, is […] the
ultimate and real standard by which the value of all
commodities can at all times and places be estimated and compared.
It is their real price; money is their nominal price only” (Smith:
1976, Chapter V).
2. Economic value lies in human
work – Adam Smith

Labour as ultimate and real
standard of value

Distinguishes between
„real“ value of labour and
exchange value/„nominal
price“

Scepticism of rents and
profits

(Diamond-water paradox
distinguishes between use
value and exchange value)
3. Economic value lies in marginal
utility - Jevons

Value based in subjective
emotions (pleasure and pain)

Value is relational i.e. situated
in the interplay of people and
objects

Marginal value matters more
than absolute value

Utility is all-encompassing

Qualities of things do not
matter

Quantification as key method
for the study of value
Conclusion – The study of co-existing
value theories

Studying the
coexistence of
collective conceptions
of value



Meaning (Munn and
Graeber)
Power and conflict
(Gregory and Rival)
Technology
(Bohannan and
Kopytoff)
Source: 2011: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11942117