ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the interconnection between money, weights and measures in precapitalist economies, and how this interaction changed radically when modern rational capitalism became the predominant reality in the West. In Max Weber's analysis of modernity, rationalization has permeated different spheres of social life in Western societies: religion, law, science, art, philosophy, politics and economy. The concept of rationalization means for Weber that social action is disciplined, systematic, rigorous, and methodical. Thus, the main aspect of rationalization in economy is calculability: money, technology, free labor, capital accounting, and double entry bookkeeping are all social practices and institutions that helped the development of rational capitalism. Calculation is then the key element in Weber's idea of economic rationalization. In modern economy, as every contemporary consumer knows, the relation between the quantity of money and the quantity of a commodity is this: the quantity of money is variable while the quantity of the commodity is fixed.
