What is Money?
- All levels
- 21 and older
- $315
- 275 Madison Ave, New York, NY
- 12 hours over 4 sessions
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Brooklyn Institute for Social Research @ 68 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY
Explore the profound and liberating ideas of Lucretius' On the Nature of Things at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. Dive into the epic world of atoms, voids, and the nature of the soul while examining the role of poetry in conveying materialist teachings. Uncover the secrets of human motivation, free will, and morality in this captivating course.
Apr 10th
6:30–9:30pm EDT
Meets 4 Times
Brooklyn Institute for Social Research @ 68 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY
In this course, you'll explore artforms like Russian and Soviet avant-garde, Cubo-Futurism, and Constructivism. Learn the works of influential artists and examine their impact on the shifting ideological and institutional ideas during the early Soviet state. Uncover the avant-garde's quest for a "communistic expression of material structures" and its enduring legacy in the 20th century.
Apr 16th
6:30–9:30pm EDT
Meets 4 Times
Brooklyn Institute for Social Research @ 68 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY
Delve into the profound intersections of race, class, and capitalism in a thought-provoking exploration of contemporary radical movements. Join us for an in-depth examination of Cedric Robinson’s concept of racial capitalism and its implications for understanding modernity, nationalism, and Black Radicalism. Uncover the complexities of these interwoven systems through close readings and discussions led by expert scholars at the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research.
May 8th
6:30–9:30pm EDT
Meets 4 Times
Money seems like a straightforward aspect of our daily lives. But underlying its everyday functionality in facilitating transactions, measuring the market value of goods and services, and serving as a store of wealth over time is a stubborn question about what money actually is. As the economist Perry Mehrling observes, “Money is always difficult, and it is more difficult than ever today.” We often conceive of money as a “neutral” medium backed by some valuable asset like gold or as rolling out of government mints backed by the full faith and credit of the state. We sometimes consider credit and money as fundamentally social constructs based on trust. What is often difficult to grasp is that money is created ex nihilo by private banks through the recording of loans and corresponding deposits. Further, when money is created outside of the banking sector, as with mortgage-dealing “shadow banks,” it can play a role, as we saw in 2008, in destabilizing, almost fatally, the entire financial system. What’s at stake in understanding money?
In this course, we’ll sketch the functioning of our financial system and explore the issues and debates surrounding money. Reading from Ann Pettifor’s The Production of Money, Michel Aglietta’s Money: 5,000 Years of Debt and Power, William Goetzmann’s Money Changes Everything, and others, we’ll examine the historical development of money as an institutional system; its close connection to political power; how money is created; the role of interest rates and monetary policy; and the impact of quantitative easing on asset prices and economic inequality. More broadly, we’ll consider how the monetary system can best be aligned with the interests of society at large, and how to subordinate finance to the needs of the real economy.
Please Note: There *is* no physical Brooklyn Institute. We hold our classes all over (thus far) Brooklyn and Manhattan, in alternative spaces ranging from the back rooms of bars to bookstores to spaces in cultural centers, including the Center for Jewish History, the Goethe-Institut, and the Barnard Center for Research on Women. We can (and do) turn any space into a classroom. You will be notified of the exact location when you register for a class.
Instructors will contact students approximately one week prior to the first class with reading assignments and details about the course location.
In any event where a customer wants to cancel their enrollment and is eligible for a full refund, a 5% processing fee will be deducted from the refund amount.
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The Brooklyn Institute for Social Research was established in 2011 in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Its mission is to extend liberal arts education and research far beyond the borders of the traditional university, supporting community education needs and opening up new possibilities for scholarship in the...
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Brooklyn Institute for Social Research
Murray Hill, Manhattan
275 Madison Ave St #2114
Btwn E 39th & 40th Streets
New York, New York 10016 Murray Hill, Manhattan
275 Madison Ave St #2114
Btwn E 39th & 40th Streets
New York, New York 10016
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