Prologue

Abstract

This is really a book about capital. However, as the word capital is so overused in economics as to be nearly meaningless in any specific sense, I am going to begin by employing a neutral word — myros — in its place. Later, once the notion is better understood, the word myros will be replaced with more conventional terminology. One of the major purposes of this book is to show that the concept of myros provides a root concept of capital which allows for most existing concepts of capital to be unified and related in a consistent fashion to one another. In addition, it will be seen that such a root concept offers a framework for integrating monetary and capital theory, and for analyzing the functioning of an economy, whether that economy is in a steady state of subsistence or in a process of sustained growth. Specifically, it will be seen that a conservation principle associated with myros emerges which both implies and imposes a variety of constraints on the macro behavior of an economy, constraints which make for straightforward understanding and analysis of such concepts as the real stock of money, real-balance effects, and the general price level. New and illuminating insights are also provided into aggregate supply and demand, natural and money rates of interest, the relationship between real and monetary economies, and economic growth and development.