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W e l c o m e
Welcome to my Collection of Thoughts about Economics

Via the entry point of finance and stock trading I also touched areas like political economics or how our money works. Here you can find a collection of thoughts that evolved over the years while thinking about these general aspects of our day to day life.

I n f o M a t e r i a l
Books that influenced me

• The Wealth of Nations
• The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money: I have to admit that I did not really understand this book. But I found out that several well known authors in economics share this experience with me. Therefore I do not bother.
• Die unsichtbare Hand
• International Economics: Theory And Policy
• Marktwirtschaft ohne Kapitalismus
• Small is Beautiful
• Short Circuit
• Money: Whence It Came, Where It Went
• What Has Government Done to Our Money?
• Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles: There is also an online version of that book.
• Der Crash kommt
• The Economics of Happiness
• Wealth, Virtual Wealth and Debt: There is also an online version of that book.
• The Grip of Death: A Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery, and Destructive Economics: A Study of Modern Money, Debt Slavery and Destructive Economics: I believe that many of the arguments of the author are incorrect and I do not like the sensation mongering style of the book, but the book is a very good source of items that are worth to have a closer look at in the context of our monetary system.
• The Wisdom of Crowds.
• Eigentum, Zins und Geld.
• Das Geld der Zukunft.
• The Nature of Money

M o n e y
What is Money and how does it work?

This document is a single big question: is my understanding of the core nature of the subject money correct or did I miss some important aspects? If you disagree with my interpretations then I would be very happy to hear your arguments. This document should serve as a working basis for people who are interested in this subject and who would like to participate in creating a sound and understandable explanation of basic questions.
I am certain that the ideas brought forward in this document are not new and a lot of ideas I took from books that I've read. But because I did not find a single concise source of information that would describe all those topics described here and which would in addition set those topics in relation to eachother I decided to write this document. Besides that I dislike the pure qualitative conversational style of most economics literature that I've read and therefore this document tries to explain the ideas in terms of simple mathematical models which are rich enough to give some insight into the questions that arise.
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M o n e y / C r i s e s
Possible risks ahead of us

Currently the world, as I observe it in my day to day life, seems to be quiet, predictable and stable. In my whole life time there exists no memory of any bigger crisis and I tend to take it for granted that the world will continue to work the same way into the far future. All of my friends and in general all of the people I know seem to live in the same belief.
Nevertheless if I start to think and when I start to set known facts into relation with eachother I come to the conclusion that it is quite possible that we will soon have to face severe crises that have the potential to change the life as we know it.
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M o n e y / C r i s e s
Fertile Obfuscation: Making Money Whilst Eroding Living Capital

Economics or Chrematistics: "The management of the household so as to increase its use value to all members of the household over the long run." versus "the study of wealth or a particular theory of wealth as measured in money".
"True wealth is limited by the satisfaction of the concrete need for which it was designed. For oikonomia, there is such a thing as enough. For chrematistics, more is always better."
"Whatever further social changes experience may dictate, no unbiased inquirer into the subject of money today can long escape the conclusion that until the system is drastically transformed and its mistakes eliminated, there can be no hope of peace, honesty, or stability again in this world... It is necessary in this respect to return to the fundamental basis of money as something no private person should be allowed to create for himself. All, equally, should have to give up for money the equivalent value in goods and services before they can obtain it..."
"The essential feature of money is that it is a legal claim to wealth over and above the wealth in existence, all of which in an individualistic society is already in the ownership of others independently of this claim"
"It is important to note that the creation of money, whether through the printing of government notes or through the creation of a loan is totally outside of the operating economy (though it can have a very significant effect on the economy). The manufacture of a car or production of wheat does not create money. Today, almost all money is created through the creation of loans (very little of what we call money is in the form of government notes). With similar reasoning, the payment of interest or principle on a loan can only be made with money, and in the process destroys or reduces money by the amount paid. Again it is not the manufacture of a car or production of wheat that repays a loan, only money can do this."
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