Money Doesn't Matter

Concerns about inflation can lead us to exaggerate the role of money in the economy. In his essay on “Three Rival Versions of Monetary Enquiry,” in Telos 194, Edward Hadas argues that money is not at the center of economics. Instead, economics is fundamentally about what he calls the “Great Exchange,” in which people offer labor that changes the world and the world in return provides gifts to people in the form of goods and services. At its basis, this exchange involves the relationship between humans and nature, as well as the ways in which humans decide to manage this relationship. Though it can go on with or without money, money is very useful for managing the individual elements of the Great Exchange. As the mediator of the details of the Great Exchange, money is in fact neutral, neither a nefarious underminer of human relations nor a key to prosperity.

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The Telos Press Podcast: Edward Hadas on the Ideologies of Money

In today’s episode of the Telos Press Podcast, David Pan talks with Edward Hadas about his article “Three Rival Versions of Monetary Enquiry: The Ideologies of Money,” from Telos 194 (Spring 2021). An excerpt of the article appears here. If your university has an online subscription to Telos, you can read the full article at the Telos Online website. For non-subscribers, learn how your university can begin a subscription to Telos at our library recommendation page. Print copies of Telos 194 are available for purchase in our online store.

Listen to the podcast here.

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The Telos Press Podcast: Roundtable on the U.S. Capitol Riot

In today’s episode of the Telos Press Podcast, David Pan talks with Jay Gupta, Mark G.E. Kelly, and Timothy W. Luke about the U.S. Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Their discussion covers a range of topics, including the main causes of the riot, the cultic character of Trump’s supporters, whether the breach of the Capitol was more about symbolism or substance, the declining legitimacy of U.S. political institutions and the loss of faith in the Constitution, the rhetoric of democracy, populism as a rebellion against the administrative deep state and managerial capitalism, the changing politics of race and racial divides, and the realignment of Democratic and Republican coalitions in the wake of Trump. Telos 194 (Spring 2021) features a group of essays on the U.S. Capitol riot, excerpts of which appear here. Click through to read the full articles at the Telos Online website (subscription required). To learn how your university can subscribe to Telos, visit our library recommendation page. Print copies of Telos 194 are available for purchase in our store.

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The Telos Press Podcast: Rabab Kamal on Islamic Reform

In today’s episode of the Telos Press Podcast, David Pan talks with Rabab Kamal about her article “The Curious Case of Islamic Reform: Why the Concept of Holy Violence Remains Disputed and How Nonviolent Islamism Is More Than Problematic,” from Telos 194 (Spring 2021). An excerpt of the article appears here. This article was part of a group of essays in Telos 194 that discussed Elham Manea’s new book The Perils of Nonviolent Islamism, available here for 20% off the list price. To learn how your university can subscribe to Telos, visit our library recommendation page. Print copies of Telos 194 are available for purchase in our store.

Listen to the podcast here.

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Telos 194 (Spring 2021): Political Theology Today

Telos 194 (Spring 2021): Political Theology Today is now available for purchase in our store. Individual subscriptions to Telos are also available in both print and online formats.

What does political theology mean today? At the Telos-Paul Piccone Institute conference from which many of the essays in this issue originated, a primary goal was to discuss the crisis of secular liberalism and “how faith is reshaping culture and politics today.” But even this project perhaps limits too much the scope of political theology, implying that we have a choice between reason and faith, or that political theology is a commitment to faith rather than an analysis of the element of faith that underlies all of our endeavors. The idea of political theology begins with the premise that every existing human order is built upon some understanding of ultimate meaning. The task would then be to analyze the kind of meaning that each existing order embodies and determine the kinds of decisions about meaning that are made and need to be made at various points in its history. Even secular liberalism, to the extent that it constitutes an existing order, presumes some answer to this question of meaning, and a closer look at the political theology of the United States reveals a mythic dimension that underlies its liberal democratic processes. The essays in this issue examine the political theological underpinnings of economy, politics, technology, and religion, laying out the ways in which these areas of human life develop not as autonomous spheres but as the result of struggles over a set of political theological choices.

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