ABSTRACT
The properties of real-world moneys throw a monkey wrench into the neoclassical theory of economic exchange. Neoclassicism’s most refined set of tools, general equilibrium theory, allows little place for money as a generally accepted medium of exchange, arguably its most important function. Theorists have continued to try to use the mathematical and geometrical formalizations of equilibrium theory to construct explanations of the real-world origin and use of money. At the bottom of the problem of explaining money is the nature of the tools that the standard economist uses. General equilibrium theory is accepted by a majority of economists as their scientific approach to the study of human behavior. Monetary exchange is a way for information about excess supplies of goods to be passed along to other traders. The roles and functions of money have to be examined both in terms of less objective views of information and more evolutionary views of monetary exchange and economic order.
