Some Remarks on Nissan Liviatan's Article on Don Patinkin's Contribution to Monetary Theory

Nissan mentions Don Patinkin's many contributions in monetary theory, and their effect. Note that these contributions dealt with the most important topics, which are at the heart of macroeconomic research still today. It is also worth noting that whereas some of his contributions exerted an extensive influence in the past, others were ahead of their time and are only now beginning to have an impact. This is the case, for example, with the attempt to provide microeconomic foundations to money within the macroeconomic model, which is discussed in the microeconomic part of MIP. Although this subject has not been resolved to this day, there are several ways of doing this. Don was one of the first to tackle the subject and his contribution is as important today as ever. He realized that the role of money can be understood only by undertaking a detailed analysis of the technology of transactions. He built a complex model in which the precise timing of the individual's transaction at any point is not known in advance but is random and coincidental. Full incorporation of this approach in the macroeconomic model was not possible at his time, and so his approach did not have many disciples then. In the last few years, however, researchers such as Kiyotaki and Wright and others have developed similar models based on random encounters.