Fiat: Money, Energy, and the Politics of Time in the Modern State
Keywords:
Fiat Money, Taxation, Trust, Fiscal Backing, Politics of TimeAbstract
This article reconceptualizes fiat money as an enforcement architecture rather than a property of banknotes: through taxation, law, and credible institutions, the state makes a medium necessary and socially acceptable. Drawing on tax-foundation accounts, it explains how tax obligations generate demand for state money and underpin modern finance. The argument then extends to energy and fuel, showing how control over access, infrastructure, and the allocation of costs and burdens can render energy effectively non-optional, turning it into a strategic site of governance. From this perspective, fiat collapse reflects failures of trust and fiscal support more than issuance capacity. "Finally, the article links fiat governance to present-biased time preferences , foregrounding a politics of time in which monetary, fiscal, and energy policies distribute benefits and costs across time and generations, raising the question of who governs the future in the name of society.
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