ABSTRACT
If we contrast primitive money with modern money issued by a single national authority one difference is striking. Primitive money is restricted in its flow, there are ranges of goods it cannot buy or persons to whom it cannot be transferred. By contrast, modern money flows freely. In this perspective primitive money is evidently a very imperfect form of money. But I suggest that it is the wrong perspective for a useful comparison between primitive and modern money. There are many situations in which modern money is restricted, particularly at the international and at the purely personal levels. In these fields there are sharp discontinuities in demand that are expressed by control devices such as rationing. Therefore I argue that it is enlightening to approach money, both primitive and modern, through the idea of rationing and control.
