№ 3 - 2009
Sergeyev V.M.
On the Deeper Roots of the Modern Financial Crisis

The author considers the less investigated semiotic aspects of the crisis, first of all the semiotic function of money and its role in the political system and social order. The author approaches credit as a form faith. A real commodity is produced by borrowing money and through giving a receipt, and the credit is materialized in the certificate. The question arises of how much faith a given society may produce without inflicting damage on itself. This amount of faith is determined not only by economic, but also by non-economic factors. Among them, first, is the political system of society (above all its judicial system), able to secure the efficient return of debts. And, second, sociocultural parameters of society, that is the level of social responsibility of its members.