What Money Really Means

by KOSTIGEN, THOMAS M.

• ISBN13: 9781581152593
• ISBN10: 1581152590
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2003-03-01
• Publisher: Allworth Press

Summary

An exploration of the meaning and significance of money in the 21st century,y "CBS MarketWatch" columnist Thomas Kostigen. Using candid interviews withrominent economic, financial and spiritual leaders, American families,rison inmates, welfare mothers and lottery winners to illustrate hisbservations, he investigates how money is made, acquired and desired inoday's society and seeks to identify its value beyond its commercial andinancial meaning. With psychological and financial insight, Kostigen pondershe questions at the forefront of our consciousness: where does our appetiteor money come from? How much is needed for survival? How integral is it todentity? Can it really buy happiness? The author traces money's meaninghrough key financial institutions and inventions, through the homes andorkspaces of average Americans, and into the temples of the various worldeligions.;Interview candidates include Yale economics professor Martinhubik; Dee Hock, founder of Visa; Nobel Prize-winning economist Josephtiglitz; developer Donald Trump; and Rabbi Burt Visotszky.

Author Biography

Thomas M. Kostigen is a columnist for CBS MarketWatch. A former Bloomberg News editor, his work has appeared in numerous magazines, journals, and newspapers around the world, including the Financial Times, The Street.com, and Investors Business Daily. A screenwriter and playwright, his film After Sex, starring Brooke Shields, was recently released on DVD, and his stage plays have been performed in New York and Los Angeles. He lives in Santa Monica, California

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Section 1: The Physical Manifestation of Money and Attachment: What Money Is
The History of Money	3	(8)
The Mechanices of Money	11	(8)
The Evolution of Money to Data	19	(6)
The Exchange of Money Value	25	(8)
The Storage of Money Value	33	(6)
The Global Monetary Value System	39	(10)
The Future of Money as a Credit-Based System	49	(12)
Section 2: The Psychological Attachment of Money: What Money Means
Toward Self-Realization	61	(4)
The Disconnect of Money from Quality of Life	65	(6)
The Empirical Study of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being	71	(6)
The Childhood Development of Value	77	(6)
Suffering and Money	83	(8)
The Poorest People in the World	91	(12)
The Basic Determinants of Needs	103	(8)
Self-Worth	111	(8)
Conditioning Values	119	(6)
Money as a Catalyst for Change	125	(8)
Monetary Desire in the Context of Universal Common Law	133	(10)
Old Money and Achievement	143	(6)
Ego and the Need for Success	149	(8)
The Search for Meaning in a Money World	157	(8)
Section 3: The Spiritual Attachment of Money: What Money Should Mean
The Search for Bliss	165	(4)
Money in the Muslim World	169	(8)
Money in the Jewish World	177	(8)
Money in the Christian World	185	(12)
Money in the Buddhist World	197	(6)
Conclusion	203	(8)
Notes	211	(2)
Index	213