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Comment by nerflad | Hacker News Reader

Money is an emergent phenomenon of markets, and it has nothing to do with libertarians.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coincidence_of_wants

How does that prove money is an emergent phenomenon of markets? In fact, that article suggests exactly what the historical evidence suggests: markets cannot really exist without money. Societies without money tend to only engage in trade with strangers, rather than having markets:

https://monoskop.org/images/3/36/Graeber_David_Toward_an_Ant...

It can't prove it any better than than anything else can bridge the is-ought gap. I agree that markets can't exist without money, but I think historical evidence suggests that they will create money in order to exist. Almost every society in human history has developed a monetary system; either one based around a commodity as simple as camels, bullion or sea shells, or backed by fiat.

Well, the same author from the link I gave happens to have also written a book on that very topic that you might find interesting:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5000_Years

I'll check it out. Thank you.

For an example of money showing up in Barter systems look at diablo 2's use of stone of Jordon's as a proxy for money.

> "Money is an emergent phenomenon of markets, and it has nothing to do with libertarians."

let me fix that for you: "Money is an emergent phenomenon of markets, markets are a fundamental feature of libertarianism, therefore money has everything to do with libertarianism."

Markets are ~10,000+ years older than libertarians. Some early examples had people swapping from banditry to trade depending on how well armed the people they encountered where. No outside forces nessisarily, but no rule of law either.

Sure markets may be older than libertarians, but even though libertarians didn't exist to enunciate libertarian theory back then, the fundamental libertarian phenomenon of non-aggression and voluntary exchange as you mention was indeed present.

But most non-libertarians believe in non-aggression and voluntary exchange too. They just argue that some taxes aren't aggression and some exchanges aren't really voluntary.

These where often rather agressive trades, even without violence actually occurring it's threat was still on the table.

Markets are a reflection of human action. Political science is concerned with quantifying and influencing human action, thus markets are a fundamental feature of all political schools of thought.

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