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The American Prospect ·For the curious

The Class Struggle in Your Wallet

by Jeffrey Sklansky

Published 2026-08-06 09:00:00+00:00

Is money a tool for trading goods, or a system for controlling the people who make them?

0:00 / 13:56 · Narrator Rasalgethi

Context

In a review published on 6 August 2026, The American Prospect looks at a framework that challenges how we think about the dollars in our bank accounts. We usually treat money as a neutral yardstick, a simple tool for measuring goods and labor. But the essay asks a sharper question. What if money isn't just measuring the economy, but actively controlling it? It treats the financial system as an independent force with its own rules, acting as a direct instrument of political power.

Show notes

A review of the book Against Money, which challenges the traditional economic view of money as a neutral measure of goods and services. It outlines the authors' argument that finance operates by its own rules to shape the broader economy, rather than just reflecting it. The critique then evaluates the book's limits, arguing that a complete theory of modern finance must also account for how money functions as an instrument of political authority and class rule.

Read on The American Prospect →