Is finance 'real'?

Patrick Henry:

I was going to mention, but decided not to, that money is merely a formof stored energy.

Thus a bank is kind of like a generator, or perhaps a battery.

If I am right, then finance is a third 'real' area for investment.

Doctor Thomas:

In my way of thinking, finance is not "real" and bank is not like a battery. What is "real" are the REAL investments (in built capitalstock, infrastructure, natural capital stocks such as forests andnatural ecosystems which provide necessary services for supporting lifesuch as nutrient and biochemical recycling, human capital in education - skills, organisational capital in the way that our economies areorganised - established economic relationships).

Money is merely a unit of account that flows in the opposite direction to real flows of materials, energy, services. [Hey! Like an electric current! - PH]

BTW: I appreciate your remark about Keynes. It took me a while to figure out a response. Keynes made the observation that in practice, the quantities of supply and demand do actually influence each other. From the point of view of "designing" a global economy, ideally, demand should not be influenced by supply - rather demand should be taken as arising exogenously and thereby provides the problem that needs to be solved. (Keynes makes an empirical observation, I'm making a normative claim).

Patrick Henry:

PS: I can't remember what I meant by 'real'.