Meltzer's History of the Federal Reserve and the Evolution of Central Banking (Book Review‪)‬

The Great Monetary Paradox Most conventional economists are very much aware of markets. Indeed, a sound understanding of the function of markets and prices is what distinguishes economists from everyone else. Nevertheless, few economists seem to realize how far the supply of one major economic item has largely disappeared from any kind of market determination. That item is money, something that appears in all market exchanges with the trivial exception of goods and services bartered. To add insult to ignorance, money originated in private markets, as the Austrian economist Carl Menger showed so well, without the participation or help of any state. According to Menger ([1871] 1981: 262-63): "Money is not the invention of the state. It is not the product of a legislative act. Even the sanction of political authority is not necessary for its existence."