The Representational Theory of Capital

Property Rights and the Reification of Capital

Leonidas Zelmanovitz (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

264 Seiten

2020
Lexington Books (Verlag)
978-1-7936-0500-9 (ISBN)

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This book proposes a “representational” theory of capital according to which there is a relation between capital goods in the real side of the economy and instruments representative of property claims on those goods in the abstract side. Financial instruments are treated herein as a particularly liquid form of property claim. The relation proposed between these two things is a loose rather than a direct one, and the causes for (and consequences of) the looseness are explored in the book. This book aims not merely to simplify our understanding of the relationship between “things” and “claims to things,” but to make explicit and precise what many current researchers assume implicitly and, consequently, imprecisely. This book will be a tool that researchers can apply to their own research, in the form of a standard by which inconsistencies in the literature on Capital Theory can be identified. Understanding what capital is requires delving into its nature on both the real and the abstract sides. In regard to capital goods, what they actually are is made clearer by the thesis that they exist on a spectrum with respect to consumer goods. In going back to the philosophical and economic basics, no claim is made of being comprehensive. The argument is that a crucial idea for our understanding of what capital is that actual capital goods (and processes, and knowledge) are represented in financial instruments and other property claims. A formal treatment that lays out the philosophical and economic basics is necessary to put this idea across, and the model proposed in the book is a first step in that direction. Further, by laying out the philosophical and economic basics of the theory, the book offers the reader the reasons why having a clearer concept of capital is an important tool for wealth creation, and why wealth creation is, more than never, necessary for our individual wellbeing and the flourishing of our civilization.

Leonidas Zelmanovitz is senior fellow at Liberty Fund.

List of Figures

List of Tables

Preface

Acknowledgments

Part I

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Austrian Capital Theory, Legal Rights, and Capital Representation

Part II

Chapter 3—The Reification of Capital, the Representational Theory of Capital and Its Model

Chapter 4 - The Epistemological Problem of Capital

Part III

Chapter 5—The Real Side

Chapter 6 – The Spatial Dimension of Capital

Part IV

Chapter 7—The Abstract Side

Chapter 8—Financial Instruments

Chapter 9 - A Dynamic Model

Chapter 10—The Relation Between Money and the Structure of Production

Part V

Chapter 11—Conclusion

Epilogue

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Index of Terms in the Model

About the Author

Erscheinungsdatum	10.05.2021
Verlagsort	Lanham, MD
Sprache	englisch
Maße	162 x 241 mm
Gewicht	594 g
Themenwelt	Recht / Steuern ► EU / Internationales Recht
	Recht / Steuern ► Wirtschaftsrecht
	Wirtschaft ► Allgemeines / Lexika
	Wirtschaft ► Volkswirtschaftslehre ► Makroökonomie
ISBN-10	1-7936-0500-9 / 1793605009
ISBN-13	978-1-7936-0500-9 / 9781793605009
Zustand	Neuware