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CENTRAL BANK? This article originally appeared in the December edition of Penguin's ThinkSmarter Newsletter . Money pervades our everyday economic interactions. But, despite its importance, it is also pervasively misunderstood. Here are three common monetary myths – frequently perpetuated by economists – that need challenging. Myth 1: Money emerges from barter Economists often tell a tale about how old communities first used barter to exchange goods and services. Bartering throws up tricky situations. Take as an example a farmer trying to exchange a cow for bread from a baker, a clumsy and difficult negotiation. Thus, according the old economists like Adam Smith, money was supposedly 'invented' as a way to get around that inefficiency and confusion. This narrative is ahistorical and inaccurate. Anthropologists have long had a much more convincing account: in small communities without money, exchange does not take place through on-the-spot barter. Rather it takes place throu...

WANTED: UNDERDOGS WITH ATTITUDE I've got some alternative currency, and I'm willing to give it to interns who can do part-time work for me to help me with publicity for my new book on global finance . I'm going to be resuming work on the London School of Financial Activism soon too, so there are possibilities to get involved there as well. Up for grabs: Alternative currency for alternative work I'd like open-minded people who are keen to learn more about alternative finance. I'll be straight up with you though: Some of it is total drudge work, like trawling through a list of 100 institutions and finding email addresses for them. I have a series of discreet tasks y ou can volunteer for in exchange for  a bounty in certain esoteric currencies I've got from selling my book. Choices include: Bitcoin:  Not only is this an interesting experience to use in itself, but you get to tell people at parties that you're paid in cryptocurrency Brixton Pounds:  I'd lik...