30

Hume’s analysis of economics is generally remembered for one point: its supposedly quantitative approach to money. But the chapters on money and credit only prove truly incisive when replaced within their philosophical corpus. Hume argues that the process of civilization entails a number of fictions allowing individuals to forge a symbolic order. In a market economy, the distinction between money –which is a convention– and financial liabilities –assimilated to promises– is crucial. Hume underlines the changes provoked by the emergence of a credit society and insists on the de-structuring aspects of financial relations. This paper reviews the writings ( Treatise, Essays, letters), first so as to examine Hume’s logic in addressing the question of monetary and financial obligations. It then examines the potential disruptions these obligations may give rise to, and then the matter of their regulation. Classification JEL: B12, E42, E50, G10, G20, N23