Why society needs to reclaim the power to create money
At the heart of capitalism lies the ability of private banks to create money at the stroke of a key. Why have we ignored this unique privilege for so long – and at what cost? Aaron Sahr attributes the lack of attention paid to money creation to the core of popular theories of capitalism, which equate economic power with capital ownership. This conceptual framework obscures the real drivers of capitalist dynamics as well as the causes of increasing inequality.
By exploring the transformation of banking over the last half century, Sahr shows how the creation of money has driven the rise of finance as well as splitting incomes from wealth. As a result, the real economy of ordinary people has become a debt supplier to a monetary system whose returns accumulate at the top. It is not simply the markets but money itself that transfers wealth from the masses to a minority. Increasing financial inequality can therefore only be remedied by addressing predistribution – the modalities of money creation – as well as the distributive effects of the markets. By mapping this hidden regime of ‘keystroke capitalism’, Sahr makes an essential contribution to our understanding of economic inequality and capitalist dynamics.
What People Are Saying
“Aaron Sahr’s book provides a highly accessible synthesis of the state of knowledge on modern money and how it affects the political economy. Readers learn about the nature of fiat money and fiat credit and their contribution the financialization of contemporary capitalism, the conflicts it generates, and the consequences for the state and public policy.” Wolfgang Streeck
“Why and how did a company with a huge cash pile in the bank—Apple Inc—set out to borrow $17 billion in 2013? How did the world’s billionaire class accumulate $418 trillion US dollars—an amount five times world income—in the blink of an eye? The answers can be found in this admirably accessible book on the way the globalised, private financial system generates ‘keystroke wealth’ and ‘keystroke capital gains’—but also its nemesis—‘keystroke debt.’ A must-read for all those fretting about the likely next crisis in the evolution of financialised capitalism.” Ann Pettifor