To understand monetary theory one not only has to understand its “real” foundation, i.e., the theory of the allocation of present and future goods as analyzed by the model of general equilibrium theory; it is also necessary to understand the relevant institutional framework. “Money” is an institution par excellence; therefore, monetary theory - the economic analysis of the use of money - cannot stop short of the analysis of money as an institution. Yet the institution of money, for its part, is closely associated with the institutions of a “market” and of a “financial intermediary”. It is indeed difficult to find an exact boundary of where the one institution ends and the other begins.