Understanding money - its creation, distribution and the value attached to it- is critical to understanding a society. This book introduces the principal theories of money, integrating them with macroeconomics and addressing key questions. What is money? How is it generated? How is it distributed? How does money impact the economy and society?

Introductory remarks, 1. The Theory of Money: Basic Concepts, Part I, 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Can We Do Without Money?, 1.3 Money, Markets, and Value, 2. The Theory of Money: Basic Concepts Part II, 2.1 Do We Need a Theory of Money?, 2.2 Operationalism and Theories of Money, 2.3 The Concept of Stock-flow Consistency, 2.4 Money and Macroeconomics, 2.5 A Framework for Understanding Theories of Money, 3. What Is Money?, 3.1 Some Brief Remarks on Money Throughout History, 3.2 Alternative Forms of Money, 3.3 So Just What Is Money? Metallists and Chartalists, 4. Modelling Money, 4.1 Modelling Coins, 4.2 Modelling Fiat Money, 5. How Money Is Created, 5.1 The Question of Money Generation, 5.2 Creating Traditional Forms of Money, 5.3 The Creation of Bank Deposits and the Multiplier, 5.4 The Creation of Bank Deposits and Endogenous Money Generation, 5.5 Nonconventional Ways Central Banks Can Create Money, 5.6 Other Ways to Create Money, 6. How Money Acquires Value and How that Value Changes over Time, 6.1 How Money Gains Acceptance, 6.2 How Money Acquires Value, 6.3 How the Value of Money Changes: The Elusive Concept of Inflation, 6.4 Chartalism and the State Theory of Money, 7. Money: How It's Distributed, 7.1 The Question of the Distribution of Money, 7.2 Who Gets the (New) Money?, 7.3 Persuading the Sceptics: Loans and Bank Deposits, 7.4 Closing Considerations on the Role of Commercial Banks in Allocating Money, 8. Money and the Economy, 8.1 Money and Classical Economic Theory, 8.2 The Theory of the Circuit of Money, 8.3 Puzzles: The Declining Velocity of Money and Missing Inflation, 8.4 Money and Complexity, 8.5 Economic and Financial Instabilities, 8.6 Modern Money Theory, 8.7 Stock-flow Consistent Models, Concluding remarks, Index