From: Acevedo, Rafael
Dear Professor Walter,
I hope you and yours are well.
Professor, first I wanted to know how are you, and secondly I was wondering if you could help me with a doubt I have (actually two).
The first, in Venezuela there is a “debate” around the “state monopoly of currency”. An economist argues that the monopoly of currency must continue on State’s hands. He says this, because under his logic there is nor academic neither scientific (or anthropological) evidence that the commerce emerged before the sate. In brief his line of argument is this:
1) The weather changed and people could live in the same place (before that they had to move)
2) Appears the agriculture
3) Appears the State introducing the money and offering protection to people.
4) Finally, appears the market (commercial exchange)
As far as I knew the commercial exchange appears before the State, and currency was not issued by the State but by the people to ease the commercial exchange… I am right, or he is… If I am right which recent literature could be used to support it?
The second question, is about PhD in Economics programs. If you would have to recommend some PhD in Economics program to a person that is in his 40s, with experience teaching and researching in mainstream academia (out of the US), and that those programs were feasible (not top ranked but good enough to be competitive in the US Academia Job Market) and affordable (that the person does not have to take a never-ending student debt), which programs would you suggest?
Thank you very much and sorry to bother you with my questions.
Best regards,
Rafael Acevedo.-
Dear Rafael:
Your questions are no bother. The very opposite.
Commercial acts took place in pre history, long before there was any state.
One of my papers makes this point:
Levendis, John, Walter E. Block and Robert B. Eckhardt. 2019. “Evolutionary psychology, economic freedom, trade and benevolence.” Review of Economic Perspectives – Národohospodářský obzor; Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 73-92; https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/revecp/19/2/article-p73.xml; 10.2478/revecp-2019-0005; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/revecp-2019-0005; https://www.lewrockwell.com/lrc-blog/here-is-one-of-my-best-scholarly-papers-ever/; https://pennstate.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/evolutionary-psychology-economic-freedom-trade-and-benevolence
Before there was any state money, fishhooks, salt, sugar, served as a medium of exchange, overcoming the double coincidence of wants challenge. These intermediaries were money, as were cigarettes in prison of war camps for soldiers.
Here’s a good reading on this:
Rothbard, Murray N. 1963, 1985, 1990 What Has Government Done to Our Money? Auburn, AL.: Mises Institute; http://www.mises.org/rothbard/rothmoney.pdf
In the US, the phd programs I highly recommend are Texas Tech and Mason. I’m taking the liberty of copying on this my contacts there, Ben and Pete.
Best regards,
Walter
2:37 am on July 6, 2020
