The distinction between what is presented as a thought experiment and what is supposedly claimed as historical fact is most definitely material. And Graeber makes it clear what he's talking about:
> It's important to emphasize that this is not presented as something that actually happened, but as a purely imaginary exercise. "To see that society benefits from a medium of exchange" write Begg, Fischer and Dornbuch (Economics, 2oos), "imagine a barter economy. " "Imagine the difficulty you would have today," write Maunder, Myers, Wall, and Miller (Economics Explairzed, 1991) , "if you had to exchange your labor directly for the fruits of someone else's labor." "Imagine," write
Parkin and King (Economics, 1995) , "you have roosters, but you want roses".
He quotes Stiglitz after this and remarks:
> Again this is just a make-believe land
Before claiming it's the same myth it's necessary to clarify what the myth actually is and why it supposedly is so important for capitalism.
> Yes, I obviously did read the book. I also used to believe the myth because I first read it in an undergraduate econ textbook.
In a deleted comment you claimed you read it in Mankiw. There it is most definitely presented as a thought experiment asking the reader to imagine the inconvenience of barter.
>The distinction between what is presented as a thought experiment and what is supposedly claimed as historical fact is most definitely material.
A) it's been presented as both. The example you pointedly ignored that I posted above is one such example.
B) It's not really that material. The story serves the same purpose either way - both in the above example and in, say, Stiglitz.
>it's necessary to clarify what the myth actually is and why it supposedly is so important for capitalism.
It is which is why Graeber did explain why it's important.
I thought you read the book?
>In a deleted comment you claimed you read it in Mankiw.
After writing that comment I double checked the 8th edition of the text to see if i remembered correctly and ctrl-f and found zero about barter in the whole book so I guess we both misremembered.
I cant honestly remember which econ textbook I read it in since it was 16 years ago, but I do know that I read it and believed it and there are plenty of other examples that can be found via google, so whatever.
> The example you pointedly ignored that I posted above is one such example.
Nobody thinks this is the mainstream consensus view, not even Graeber.
> The story serves the same purpose either way
> It is which is why Graeber did explain why it's important.
The whole thread is about why Graber's just-so explanations are wrong. And your arguments are materially different from what is actually in the text.
> I guess we both misremembered.
From The Principles of Macroeconomics, 3rd Edition. Chapter 15 - The Monetary System
> The social custom of using money for transactions is extraordinarily useful in a large, complex society. Imagine, for a moment, that there was no item in the economy widely accepted in exchange for goods and services.
> It's important to emphasize that this is not presented as something that actually happened, but as a purely imaginary exercise. "To see that society benefits from a medium of exchange" write Begg, Fischer and Dornbuch (Economics, 2oos), "imagine a barter economy. " "Imagine the difficulty you would have today," write Maunder, Myers, Wall, and Miller (Economics Explairzed, 1991) , "if you had to exchange your labor directly for the fruits of someone else's labor." "Imagine," write Parkin and King (Economics, 1995) , "you have roosters, but you want roses".
He quotes Stiglitz after this and remarks:
> Again this is just a make-believe land
Before claiming it's the same myth it's necessary to clarify what the myth actually is and why it supposedly is so important for capitalism.
> Yes, I obviously did read the book. I also used to believe the myth because I first read it in an undergraduate econ textbook.
In a deleted comment you claimed you read it in Mankiw. There it is most definitely presented as a thought experiment asking the reader to imagine the inconvenience of barter.