This brief psychoanalysis enlightens us on the subconscious wellsprings of the economy.

The way we use money is like the way we speak—individual to each of us. It takes into account our animating desires. Some are mute, some sparing, some extravagant, some loquacious, with singsong accents and muffled tones: golden coins and worn-out bills. chantants et des voix sourdes, des pièces d’or et des billets usés. In a brisk style, Patrick Avrane draws on his own clinical experience and work by economists, as well as painting, lite­rature, and theater, in which misers, spendthrifts, big spenders, and penny-pinchers abound to alert us to what we do with money, as well as what it does with us.