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Tony Lawson on money

Author

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  • Menšík Josef

    (1 Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic)

Abstract

Tony Lawson, the leading figure of the Cambridge Social Ontology Group, recently published a series of papers devoted to the question of the nature of money. These contributions have to be understood in the context of his broader approach to social ontology, the so called social positioning theory. While at first glance Lawson’s monetary ideas might appear disconnected and sometimes even contradictory or mistaken, there is a consistent vision behind them which is Lawson general social ontology. Lawson’s elaboration of the nature of money is not the only one compatible with the social positioning theory and an alternative one is briefly proposed in the paper. While systematising various Lawson’s monetary contributions, attention has been paid to several particular discrepancies and mistakes and their rectification. At the end of the paper, some lessons from analysing Lawson’s monetary contributions are drawn for his general approach to social ontology.

Suggested Citation

  • Menšík Josef, 2023. "Tony Lawson on money," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 23(4), pages 293-306, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:reoecp:v:23:y:2023:i:4:p:293-306:n:1
    DOI: 10.2478/revecp-2023-0012
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tony Lawson, 2016. "Editor's choice Social positioning and the nature of money," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(4), pages 961-996.
    2. Stephen Pratten, 2017. "Trust and the social positioning process," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(5), pages 1419-1436.
    3. Tony Lawson, 2018. "The Constitution and Nature of Money [A critique of Lawson’s ‘Social positioning and the nature of money’]," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(3), pages 851-873.
    4. Nuno Ornelas Martins, 2022. "Social positioning and the pursuit of power," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 46(2), pages 275-292.
    5. Tony Lawson, 2012. "Ontology and the study of social reality: emergence, organisation, community, power, social relations, corporations, artefacts and money," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 36(2), pages 345-385.
    6. Phil Faulkner & Stephen Pratten & Jochen Runde, 2017. "Cambridge Social Ontology: Clarification, Development and Deployment," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(5), pages 1265-1277.
    7. ., 2003. "Subjectivism in Economics - A Suggested Reorientation," Chapters, in: The Evolving Economy, chapter 17, pages 331-353, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Lawson, Tony, 1989. "Abstraction, Tendencies and Stylised Facts: A Realist Approach to Economic Analysis," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 13(1), pages 59-78, March.
    9. Tony Lawson, 2003. "Institutionalism: On the Need to Firm up Notions of Social Structure and the Human Subject," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 175-207, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cambridge Social Ontology Group; claim approach to money; credit theory of money; nature of money; social accounting system approach to money; social ontology; social positioning theory; Tony Lawson;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A10 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - General
    • B00 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - General - - - History of Economic Thought, Methodology, and Heterodox Approaches
    • B40 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology - - - General
    • E40 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - General
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects

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