What If More Money Means More Damages?

“Money: Its Soul and Truth” (Original title: “Mysterium Geld”)

Written by Bernard Lietaer. Translated by Kang Nam-gyu

485 pages. 24,000 won. Chansol Publication House

“There is money hidden, and we don’t know about it.”

This is eye-popping news for anyone. If one believes he can join an effort to find money that’s hidden, he will wait in a long line all day although the success rate is less than one-in-a-million. However what the author meant by “hidden money” is not the usual definition of hidden money we have.

According to the author, money, like language, is derived as a result of unconscious social arrangement. This is why all forms of money are not the same. Today’s money that is issued by the state and that bears interest is one face of money.

In the book, the author defines the money circulating in the current economic system is the money of Yang, and starts a journey into history in search of money of Ying.

He concentrates on Europe of 10th-12th century and Egypt of 3000 B.C.-2000 B.C, the periods he believes the wealth to be exceptionally plentiful. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Europeans’ physiques were the biggest than any era. Women in London were taller than those in the same city today. In the golden era, the Egyptians worked eight hours a week and enjoyed weekends. In 445 BC, when Athens was stricken with famine, the Egyptians sent grains to the city, free of charge.

What made such wealth possible? He said there is money we don’t know about. Money of Ying is the secret of the wealth. Money of Ying is not interest-bearing. When one deposited it in a financial institution one had to pay for deposit fees. The exchange rate of the new mint against the old was set up several years apart as a way to collect taxes. The more one hoarded money, the more disadvantageous it became. The circulation of money was efficient. The wealth increased as people made the most of their money by cultivating land and buying agrarian equipment.

As if he laughs at the skeptics who doubt that such eras ever existed, he went further in showing the cultural commonality between the two eras. In ancient Egypt, the worship of Isis reached a crescendo. In Europe in 10th and 13th centuries, Maria worship was popular. In both societies, death was not a taboo. Poet sang about it, and observation by the deathbed was liberal. Women’s rights were respected. The Greeks found Egyptian women’s behavior interesting as they confessed love to men.

To explain these historical facts, he employs proto-psychology developed by Karl G. Jung. In a society where respect for the great mother constitutes collective sub-consciousness, there is respect for women, little fear of death, and money of Ying. Such societies in history were replaced by oppression of women, fears of death, and money of Yang with interest.

Readers of the book realize that the author is attempting to make a “grand theory.” Like many grand theorists, his analysis of historical facts is not watertight. It is doubtful that he has only used evidence that supports his hypothesis. Nevertheless, his book is an accomplishment on two points: he explained that the money system itself is based on collective unconsciousness, not on reason or rationality, and showed the possibility of an alternative to the current system.

The author has a diverse career. He was a professor of the International Finance Department at the University of Louvain in Belgium. He was selected as the best money trader by the Business Week in 1992. He taught proto-psychology at Sonoma State University in California, the U.S.

gustav@donga.com