Contenu du sommaire : Conceptions de la monnaie : un enjeu théorique

Revue Cahiers d'économie politique Mir@bel
Numéro no 13, printemps 1987
Titre du numéro Conceptions de la monnaie : un enjeu théorique
Texte intégral en ligne Accessible sur l'internet
  • Résumés des articles / Abstracts of the papers - p. 7-13 accès libre
  • Conception de la monnaie : un enjeu théorique

    • Argent et désir d'argent chez Aristote et Marx. - Arnaud Berhoud p. 3-17 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      In this paper is studied the difference between Aristotle and Marx relative to monetary functions, money as unity of functions, money as representative of wealth or desired money. This study has two main aspects. Marx's analysis finds its consistency through Benetti's criticism and it becomes meaningful/ when conceived as extension of Aristotle's thought.
    • La théorie de la monnaie- marchandise chez Marx. - Carlo Benetti p. 19-46 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      In this article we show that a re -interpretation of the role of hoarding is necessary in order to obtain a consistent Marxian theory of commodity money. Contrary to Marx's assertion, this kind of demand of money does not regulate the quantity of circulating money. Its role is very different : the determination of the value of money so that it is consistent with the definition given by Marx. This result enables us to show the ambiguities of Marx's theory, to further the analysis of the opposition between Marx and Ricardo, to show that the Marxian theory and the contemporary neoclassical theory of money have similar problems in spite of the obvious difference in their theory of value.
    • Adam Smith et la théorie quantitative de la monnaie. - Jérôme de Boyer p. 47-71 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      Inasmuch as A. Smith makes a distinction between money and wealth, he is not able to define a value for a quantity of real money. His objection to the quantity monetary theory does not reflect his views on how the value of money should be determined but rather on how an ill-defined monetary equilibrium should be readjusted. The real bills theory developed in the defence of applying liberal economic principle to banking practices demonstrates the extent to which monetary theory is dependant upon real events. At the time of Smith's writing, this meant the free banking practices common in Scotland during the 18th century.
    • Les forces accidentelles dans un processus smithien de gravitation : une saisie par un modèle probabiliste. - Reiner Franke p. 73-89 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      The paper starts out from a dynamical process which, in a stylized manner, models the Smithian concept of the gravitation of market prices towards the natural price. In order to capture competitive disorder, stochastic «perturbations» are introduced. In the spirit of the classics, this construction leads to nearly erratic movements in the short- term. It nevertheless exhibits certain long-run tendencies, which are studied by means of a new, that is, probabilistic notion of equilibrium and its stability. All discussion is within the context of a simple numerical example.
    • Emission et valeur de la circulation chez Ricardo. - Jean Cartelier p. 91-104 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      The determination of the real value of the means of circulation is the basis on which rests the monetary theory of Ricardo. This implies to study in a unique framework the production (value and distribution) and the circulation. This view commands the Ricardian propositions about the emission of money. Such a theory is shown to be non compatible with the idea of a money - commodity. It is however in complete agreement with the Ricardian ideal for money (money -paper having the value of the gold it is supposed to rep/ace). A careful examination of this theory suggests it is not consistent with the Ricardian theory as a whole.
    • John Law, précurseur de Keynés et théoricien du circuit ? - Marie-Thérèse Boyer-Xambeu p. 105-129 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      After having clarified John Law's metal list paradox as stated by Schumpeter, it will be possible to understand the rejection by J. Law of an analysis in terms of value or of market. By refuting the necessity for money to be metallic and showing the injurious consequences when it is so, L. Law elaborates a new model, in which full employment and «fair» prices rule the economy, thanks to an abstract, centrally issued money. Then, the theoretical and practical aspects of J. Law's system will be integrated in a model where quantities of unit of account follow a «no -leak circulation» ; the constraints will be made clear, which the rejection of a material conception of money and production imposes to the possibility of an accounting equilibrium in an economy with saving and interest.
    • L'offre et la demande de crédit chez Schumpeter - Marcello Messori p. 131-152 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      The purpose of the paper is to analyze the role which, according to Schumpeter, is played by bank financing in the realization of innovative and imitative processes for the opening of various periods of cyclical evolution. The limits of an analysis in terms of supply and demand of credit are stressed, because of the instability of the demand curve and the interdependence of supply and demand curves. Formal treatment of the market for credit allows to show that time differences in the streams of bank financing for the various agent groups do not require the operation of institutionnal rules.
    • Anticipations et conventions en situation d'incertitude. - André Orlean p. 153-172 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      This article demonstrates that the concept of uncertainty, as understood by Keynes and Knight, need not entail a radical indeterminacy in economic phenomena. On the contrary, uncertainty can be correlated to specific forms of behaviour that can be formalised. It is possible to distinguish between financial relations involving risk, on the one hand, and uncertainty, on the other — where traditional bargaining corresponds to the former, and uncertainty, to the latter. In order to establish these points, we present a precise and operational formalisation of uncertainty. The hypothesis of a mimetic or imitative logic of interaction is used to specify behabioural patterns within situations of uncertainty. The result is a model enabling us to eliminate some of the vagueness traditionally linked to the notion of uncertainty.
    • Monnaie et Marchandise. - Rudolf Hilferding p. 173-184 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      Hilferding' s paper was published in 1912, when the monetary questions were under discussion, and widely related in the Neue Zeit Hilferding reveals a conception based on the law of value, as opposed to the subjective theory of money. His theory points that the absolute price level is determined by the own value of gold. Then notion of forced currency conforms to the rule. For that purpose, Hilferding uses an original notion : the unlimited demand, which assures the gold coins of fixed price, whatever the amount of currency. According to the author, this unlimited demand enables stability in exchanges as well as steady measure of values.
    • Quelques réflexions à propos de l'article : « Monnaie et Marchandise» de R. Hilferding. - Arnaud Rys, Achille Decot p. 185-190 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      In this criticism of the quantitative theory of money, Hilferding tries, in a text called «Money and Commodity», to investigate the theory of money as a commodity. For that purpose, he uses a new notion : the unlimited demand. But then, he meets a difficulty which occurs in Marx's theory, and is inherent in his theory, that is : the socialisation of the gold producers' private works. The notion of unlimited demand is thus to be taken as a point of no return which, in actual fact, gives money a value, independent of any exchange. Such a set-back obviously leads us to the other ways of research, in which the notion of money would prevail over the notion of commodity.
    • Mesure de la valeur et système monétaire : la tentative de Gray (1848). Textes et commentaire. - Jean Cartelier p. 191-208 accès libre avec résumé en anglais
      A short introduction precedes two large extracts of a book (1848) in which John Gray describes an original system for the emission of the means of circulation making money a good measure of value and avoiding the general overproduction crisis (not originating in disproportions between the industries). The implications for modern theory of Gray's system are briefly ack- knowledged.