Where does the power of money come from? Why is trust so important in financial operations? How does the swapping of gifts differ from the exchange of commodities? Where does self-interest stop and communal solidarity start in capitalist economies?
These issues and many more are discussed in a rigorous, yet readable, manner in Social Foundations of Markets, Money and Credit. It is shown in particular that capitalist economies are permeated with non-economic characteristics.
This carefully argued book will prove interesting and valuable to students and researchers not only in economics, but also in sociology and anthropology. Well-informed critics of capitalism will also find it a useful read.

Costas Lapavitsas is Senior Lecturer in Economics at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK. He is co-editor of Development Policy in the Twenty-First Century, also available from Routledge.

Part 1. Commodities, Markets and Capital 1. Social Relations Underpinning Commodity Markets 2. Commodities and Gifts Part 2. Money and Credit 3. Money's Monopoly over the Ability to Buy 4. The Social Content of Credit Relations Part 3. Theoretical Approaches to the Social Relations Sustaining Markets and Money 5. Social Norms and Institutions in the Capitalist Economy 6. The Emergence and Functioning of Money 7. Money as Unit of Account and Means of Exchange in a Socialist Economy