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Money as a computational machine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2023

Inigo Wilkins and
Bogdan Dragos
Inigo Wilkins*
Affiliation:
Willem de Kooning Academy Netherlands
Bogdan Dragos
Affiliation:
Charta Partners UK
*
Corresponding author: Inigo Wilkins, Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, 3011 TA Rotterdam, Netherlands. Email: inigo.wilkins@gmail.com.
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Abstract

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This article presents a speculative philosophical account of money as a computational machine. It does so by leveraging a computational and machinic framework, drawing primarily from the work of Philip Mirowski and Jean Cartelier. The argument is focused on a specific level of abstraction, i.e., the monetary operations involved in the creation and transfer of units of account, asking whether it is possible to view these operations as computations that mediate economic relations. As the primary function of such a machine would be one of social coordination, the article also highlights the political consequences of its implementation across society.

Keywords

MoneycomputationmachinehierarchyMirowskiCartelier

Information

Type
Article
Information
Finance and Society , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , 2022, pp. 110 - 128
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© 2022 The Author(s)

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