Money and Magic

Money and Magic

A Critique of the Modern Economy in the Light of Goethe’s Faust

Towards the end of the middle ages, monarchs and kings came to the realisation that the transmutation of elements may not be physically possible. The creation of wealth via alchemy therefore shifted to another sphere. Rather than employ chemists labouring to create gold from lead, rulers instead hired economists to create gold from paper, the conversion of inferior material into a valuable symbol.

The relationship to the Faust legend and Goethe’s insights into the development of the early modern economy makes this book a mesmerising read for anyone who may be baffled by the current system of value creation in our modern economy. Magic turns out to be very real indeed.

Although Goethe’s Faust II is widely celebrated as a literary classic, few have been aware of its penetrating insights into the enduring social problems of the modern economy. Hans Christoph Binswanger looks at Faust through the lens of economics and enlarges our understanding of this epic by explaining Goethe’s preoccupation with financial matters. He gives us new insights into the contradictions of our modern banking system and the physical limits set by nature.