Ask economists how money came to be and they'll tell you a fantasy of barter being replaced by money because it was "easier" --- all without citing a single source of how this happened because it isn't true. You're right, they are not exactly always in touch with reality.
Yes. From Graeber to any anthropologist, credit (a tab at the bar for instance) is the bulk of any exchange. Money (some thing as a unit of account) can be a form of settlement, but credit is the primary method of exchange.
yup. I am currently reading Moral Minds (along with a pile of other stuff). One thing about altruism/reciprocity is its humanity's survival super power.
When tribe mattered, it's how we flourished as a species.
"Greed is good" strips that away to the thinking of a tyrant, where his family and peers benefit from reciprocity while denying it to the larger society the leech from.
@economics-that-works@GhostOnTheHalfShell The problem in the U.S. is that its social contract is a Lockean one that defines as the most important function of the state the protection of the property rights of the propertied. You see where that has led. Needed is a social contract based on principles of solidarity. Sadly, the few forays the country has taken in that direction have been furiously and successfully blocked by those who subscribe to the Lockean/Libertarian view.
I want to stress just how stupid mainstream economics are. Fold in Shumpeter's assertion that monopolies are fine because if they start abusing their position competition will magically appear because iron laws of economics
Mainstream economists have no contact with the real world. It's as if they never heard of history and tyranny, nor do they want to worry their pretty heads with reality.
Bank lending increases a borrower's bank account and also obligates them with debt+interest in unequal measure.
"Every company uses double-entry bookkeeping. What is special about how banks use it is that it’s how they create money. If a bank lends you say £1 million, they add that number £1 million to your Deposit account, and they record that you owe them £1 million at the same time.."