The economic contribution of his essay is that it represents the thesis advanced by German economist Georg Friedrich Knapp in The State Theory of Money (1924), an expose advocating the Chartalist approach to monetary theory claiming that money must have no intrinsic value and strictly be used as tokens issued by the government, or fiat money.

FORBES: Bitcoin Obliterates 'The State Theory Of Money'

That suggests another theory is needed, in which the state plays a bigger role in the origin of money.

ECONOMIST: Free exchange