Toward an Anthropological Theory of Money with Natalie Smolenski (WiM394)
The "What is Money?" Show
Introduction
This chapter explores how countries like Germany, France, and the UK lost their gold reserves and went off the gold standard, while the US accumulated three-fourths of the world's gold reserves, shaping their geopolitical power.
Natalie Smolenski joins me to discuss her paper, 'Toward an Anthropological Theory of Money.' We talk about the relationship between anthropologists and economists, the difference between social institutions and social technology, and the anthropological significance of Bitcoin.
Natalie Smolenski is an author, Bitcoin entrepreneur, and theoretical anthropologist. She is the founder of the Texas Bitcoin Foundation.
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// OUTLINE //
00:00:00 - Coming up
00:00:40 - Intro
00:02:14 - Helping Lightning Startups with In Wolf's Clothing
00:03:00 - Natalie Smolenski's Background and Her New Paper
00:05:00 - David Graeber and Nick Szabo Twitter Debate
00:11:34 - Bridging Together Anthropologists and Economists
00:16:26 - Graeber's Top-Down Theory of Money
00:19:45 - Interstate Payments
00:21:43 - How Fiat Shaped Social Science
00:24:47 - Social Consensus and the State
00:27:27 - Defining Social Institution and Social Technology
00:30:04 - Run Your Business from Anywhere with NetSuite
00:31:09 - Secure Your Bitcoin Stash with the iCoin Hardware Wallet
00:32:07 - Distinguishing Social Institution and Social Technology
00:36:46 - How Technology Affects Institutions
00:38:31 - Money is the Most Sailable Good
00:41:18 - Spheres of Exchange
00:45:35 - Money as a Social Institution
00:47:37 - Functions of Money
00:51:55 - Objective Measurement of Value
00:53:41 - Credit Money vs. Commodity Money
00:57:10 - How the State Utilizes Credit Money
01:00:28 - Is Money a Creature of the State?
01:04:38 - Geopolitical History of Gold
01:07:23 - Enhance Your Brain Power with Mind Lab Pro
01:08:30 - Take Control of Your Healthcare with CrowdHealth
01:09:32 - A Bitcoin Wallet with Privacy Built-In: Wasabi Wallet
01:10:23 - Payment vs. Settlement
00:14:56 - Legal and Psychological Settlements
00:19:04 - Legal Money vs. Emergent Money
01:22:46 - Value of Emergent Commodity Money
01:25:40 - Tending toward Commodity Money
01:28:45 - Utility of Bitcoin
01:31:10 - Anthropological Significance of Bitcoin
01:34:32 - Where to Find Natalie on the Internet
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