Michael Hudson

I have known Steve Zarlenga for many years, going back to before he organized the AMI. We were introduced by Nic Tideman. Steve showed me his wonderful article countering Carl Menger’s barter theory of money. I urged him to make this the first chapter of his Lost Science of Money, because the conflict between the Barter Theory and the State Theory of money provides the best frame for his historical research and notes that the published in his book. He rightly grounds his approach in Aristotle’s point that money is a creation of law and custom (nomos), and on the Lycurgan reforms in Sparta treating iron with vinegar to attest to the fact that use value was not the source of its worth. I attended all the early meetings of the AMI, usually staying with Steve. The question is, where to go now that Steve is not around to self-publish and sell his book? I think that the best thing that could happen would be to edit and prepare an edition of the Lost Science that could be published and widely distributed, at least via Amazon if not by bookstores.