Nominalism

C08　—　Chain of people

“Money is what the state makes. Even rubble can be made to pass.”

Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama　／　Reading time (main text): About 8 min (4,116 characters of text at 500 chars/min; exercises and readings not included)　／　Beyond the text: 11 exercises · 4 coins · 8 readings

What this course teaches you to do

• You can explain nominalism in a single sentence.
• You can demonstrate the procedure for verifying the source of a famous quotation.
• You can contrast the conditions under which nominalism succeeded and failed.
• You can explain for what purpose a "ceremony showing the death of a system" was held.
• Can explain, with reservations, the traditional accounts of Ogiwara Shigehide's words and the reinterpretation of him as a forerunner of nominalism.
• Can discuss the conditions under which nominal value functions (confidence in the governing discipline), using a pair of successful and unsuccessful examples.

Lessons (8)

1. The more quotable the line, the harder you check its sourceThe more attractive the quotation, the more carefully you measure the distance from the person. If far, write "it is said."
2. Turning paper into shares — John Law's deviceThe nominal can part from the real, but there is no limit on how fast. Expectation can double overnight.
3. Showing the death of a system in public"We will print no more" cannot be believed as words. You must create a fact that cannot be undone.
4. Forged notes used as a weaponNominalist paper is weak against forgery, because the fact you decreed stops reaching people. Traces remain even in newspapers.
5. The Man Reinterpreted as a Forerunner — Ogiwara ShigehideThe phrase "with rubble" is a legend. However, a re-interpretation can be established separately from the legend's authenticity.
6. A Name Independent in the Ledger — The Quiet Experiment of the CarolusguldenA unit free from both gold and silver. Nominalism was realized in merchants' ledgers before it became an ideology.
7. The Men Who Designed Trust — The Proof of the RentenmarkInflation was halted with the symbolic backing of a mortgage on land. A successful example of a nominalist experiment.
8. Conditions for Survival in the Age of Fiat — Pain and IndependenceIn the modern era of fiat currency, the conditions for survival are enduring pain and the independence of the watchdog.

Readings (8)

• The century of recoinage　Japan　1658–1713　the finance office, Edo
  §1. Read it including the quotation and the note on its source.
• John Law's bubble　France　1717–1720　The Mississippi and Paris
  §2. The explanation of the device of turning debt into shares.
• The paper they printed too much of　France　1796–1797　Place Vendôme, Paris
  §3. The scene of the ceremony burning the instrument in public.
• The continental currency　United States　1775–1779　New York, under British occupation
  §4. The scene where forgery becomes a weapon of economic war.
• Money on the ledger　Netherlands　the 17th century　The canal streets of Amsterdam
  Section 6. Ledger balances become money—practical nominalism.
• The miracle of the Rentenmark　Germany　1923–1924　The office of the currency commissioner
  Section 7. The Currency Board as the personification of discipline.
• The great inflation and Volcker's winter　United States　the 1980s　The institution of the central bank
  Section 8. "It can be protected, but with conditions."
• The Two Rubles　Russia　1789　Paris
  Two types of paper money, deriving their names from the same root, had different backings: one was backed by confiscated church lands, the other by its convertibility to copper coins. Please focus not on why their names are similar, but on the difference in their backing.

Assessment

11 exercises in this course (7 check, 1 compare, 3 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.