Who Invented Money? | Mark Thornton

On the latest episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton unpacks a deceptively simple question and follows its answer deep into the heart of economic history and theory. Drawing on insights from Hayek, Cantillon, Menger, and even WWII prisoner-of-war camps, Mark explores how money actually emerged—not from the decrees of kings or bureaucrats, but from the spontaneous actions of everyday people solving real problems in a barter economy. Mark challenges the fable of state-created money and confronts the dangerous logic of Modern Monetary Theory. This is not just a history lesson—it's a blueprint for understanding inflation, fiat failure, and the path to sound money.

Additional Resources

"Who Really Invented Bitcoin?" (Minor Issues, episode 128): https://mises.org/MI_128

An Essay on Economic Theory by Richard Cantillon (see Part 1, Chapter 17, "Metals and Money, and especially of Gold and Silver"): https://mises.org/MI_128_A

Register for the 2025 Mises Institute Supporters Summit in Delray Beach, Florida, October 16–18: https://mises.org/ss25

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