Placeholder text

Go to cart

Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin

By David Birch

Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin Politics & Society

Before Babylon, Beyond Bitcoin

Only 1 item left in stock
Description
Technology is changing money and this book looks at where it might be taking us. Technology has transformed money from physical objects to intangible information. With the arrival of smart cards, mobile phones and Bitcoin it has become easier than ever to create new forms of money. Crucially, money is also inextricably connected with our identities. Your card or phone is a security device that can identify you – and link information about you to your money. Dave Birch looks back over the history of money, spanning thousands of years. He sees in the past, both recent and ancient, evidence for several possible futures. Looking further back to a world before cash and central banks, there were multiple ‘currencies’ operating at the level of communities, and the use of barter for transactions. Perhaps technology will take us back to the future, a future that began back in 1971, when money became a claim backed by reputation rather than by physical commodities of any kind. Since then, money has been bits. The author shows that these phenomena are not only possible in the future, but already upon us. We may well want to make transactions in Tesco points, Air Miles, Manchester United pounds, Microsoft dollars, Islamic e-gold or Cornish e-tin. The use of cash is already in decline, and is certain to vanish from polite society. The newest technologies will take money back to its origins: a substitute for memory, a record of mutual debt obligations within multiple overlapping communities. This time though, money will be smart. It will be money that reflects the values of the communities that produced it. Future money will know where it has been, who has been using it and what they have been using it for.
Product details
Number of Pages:
288
Release Date:
2017-08-08
Publication Date:
2017-08-08
Publisher:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
1907994653
ISBN13:
9781907994654
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:
[email protected]
Weight:
599 g
Height:
159 cm
Width:
236 cm
Thickness:
30 cm
Buy on Amazon

Condition

Show more

Show less
Very good
Almost no signs of wear. Book pages have no markings, accessories are intact and all other media are in good condition.
Available immediately
€1,73

Incl. VAT, plus shipping costs

PayPal
Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Only 1 item left in stock

Verified second-hand article

Verified second-hand item

Free shipping from 19€

€1,73