Introduction -- Money and credit -- The essence of money -- The commodity theory of money: a critical appraisal -- The chartalist theory of money: an analytical assessment -- The mechanisms of credit -- Banks and credit -- Credit and production -- Money and credit supply -- Endogenous money and credit -- Banks and payments -- The monetary macroeconomics of banking -- The dual function of banks -- The meaning and purchasing power of bank deposits -- The monetary macroeconomics of payments -- Payments on the labour market -- Payments on the financial market -- Payments on the market for produced goods and services -- The central bank and the state -- The monetary macroeconomics of interbank payments -- The characteristics and workings of the national payment system -- The dual function of a central bank in domestic payment systems -- The monetary macroeconomics of state payments -- Some conceptual shortcomings in the state theory of money -- The dual function of a central bank in state payments -- International settlement systems -- The current architecture for international payments -- The lack of an international settlement institution -- The lack of international money emissions -- Reforming the international monetary architecture -- The working of an international settlement institution -- The working of international money emissions -- Monetary policy strategies -- Inflation theory and inflation targeting: a critical appraisal -- Some conceptual and analytical shortcomings -- Inflation in an endogenous money system -- A structural target for monetary policy: payment systems' reform -- The required structural change in domestic payment systems -- The operationalization of payment systems' reform -- Bibliography -- Author index -- Subject index.