Mises and the moderns on the inessentiality of money in equilibrium

William Luther

The Review of Austrian Economics, 2016, vol. 29, issue 1, 13 pages

Abstract: The challenge of rendering monetary exchange intelligible within a Walrasian general equilibrium framework is well known. Perhaps less well known is the difficulty of integrating monetary and exchange economies in decentralized conceptions of equilibrium, of which the evenly rotating economy of Ludwig von Mises (1949) is an early example. After reviewing the prospect for money in the evenly rotating economy, I survey the modern literature on frictions that make money useful for exchange. While exploring techniques commonly used to generate a useful role for money in this environment, I make a distinction between exchange frictions and epistemic frictions. Although theoretical efforts have largely focused on exchange frictions, recent experimental evidence suggests that epistemic frictions warrant further attention. I conclude that Mises should be seen as a pioneer in this literature, though recent advances demonstrate that the set of frictions capable of rendering money useful is much larger than he envisioned. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Keywords: Austrian economics; Epistemic frictions; Evenly rotating economy; Exchange frictions; Gift exchange; Infinite games; Matching; Mises; Monetary economics; Money; Search; Social norms; B53; E00; E03; E40; E41; E42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11138-015-0321-0

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