On 4 May 2017, the Institute of Behavioral Science and Communication Theory (MKI) of Corvinus University of Budapest organized a conference entitled “Money Talks?”. The speakers invited discussed correlations between concepts of communication and economy that are far from being self-evident, and offered aspects to be researched and discussed.

Is money “liquid”? Are concepts of economy regarded as tangible realities? People speaking different languages save or borrow money differently, even if they live in similar economic environments? Is it possible that the most important goods is human attention? Several studies show that conventional marketing will not increase economic and financial awareness any more. In addition, research shows that economy is a concept that interweaves every aspect of human life, and its interpretation is deeply rooted in language and communication. It is therefore worth including new aspects to the process of understanding and improving financial thinking. The conference “Money Talks” was an attempt to discuss these very issues.

The participants had the opportunity to get informed about the latest results of numerous Hungarian and foreign researchers in three plenary sessions and two panels. The lectures dealt with, among others, the economic value of Facebook likes, the attention economy generated by YouTubers, the linguistic and visual metaphors related to money, and money as a non-natural language. The conference, conducted in English, offered a total of 33 lectures and posters to shed light on the hitherto hidden correlations between money and communication.

We interviewed Prof. Dr. Petra Aczél, chief organizer andDirector of the Institute of Behavioral Science and Communication Theory about the conference.

According to what criteria was the conference programme compiled? Where did the foreign and Hungarian participants come from?
Our objective was to look at the issue of money and economy through a different lens. We intended to shed light on situations where conventional methods of thinking fail to bring about the necessary changes. The questions raised included, among others, the following. How can willingness to save money or financial awareness be strengthened? What are the frameworks of thinking that contribute to or hinder one’s balanced relationship with money? Can communication be regarded as an investment? The conference was based on two pillars. The first was the idea that communication is economy, and the other one that economy is communication. As far as I know, the international scientific conference organized by Corvinus was the first to discuss these two as related issues. Our keynote speakers were world-renowned researchers: Ray Gibbs, a most outstanding representative of cognitive science, Mari Lee Mifsud, an eminent expert of the theory of information economy, and Zoltán Kövecses, one of the most excellent researchers of metaphoric thinking. Experts of various fields arrived from everywhere in the world, even as far as from Australia.

In your opinion, what was the primary message of the conference and what were the key lessons learned?
That money does talk, and communication may be interpreted as an economic process. So it is worth listening to those who understand this talk well, that is, researchers of communication, psychologists and social philosophers. The conference, with its multidisciplinary approach, was intended to be a meeting point for researchers of economy, society, media and communication. It was a great pleasure for us that numerous colleagues from Corvinus attended the conference, either as panel chairs, speakers or audience. We acknowledge their contribution.

What is the significance of the fact that the Corvinus University of Budapest hosted the conference? What cooperation or further research may be expected in the scientific field covered by the conference?
In my opinion, the topic falls within the scope of the scientific activity of Corvinus, and offers good opportunities for professional cooperation. Aspects of scientific excellence and innovation are also involved, just as the support of universities are, as the conference was financed partly from the conference support fund of Corvinus University and Hungary’s Central Bank. As for the future, we have ambitious (or, in the light of the energy needed to be invested, I may say bold) plans: given the success of the conference, we are considering making it a starting point of a series of biannual events. The main title would remain unchanged: Money Talks? And we do hope that if we continue our work now, we will arrive at increasingly interesting answers.

Gifts, metaphors of movement, secrets of co-existence... what does money talk about, and why? A summary of the two keynote speeches of the conference “Money Talks”

The keynote speakers were Raymond W. Gibbs Jr., Mari Lee Mifsud and Zoltán Kövecses. The next section gives summary of the talks of the first two.

Mari Lee Mifsud: Paradoxical Economies in/as Communication
Mari Lee Mifsud, the world-renowned professor of the University of Richmond shed light on the hidden correlations between communication and economy. The root of the word communication is the Greek munis, meaning “interchange”. Therefore, communication is a system of mutual interchange. As a rule, communication is discussed in relation to market economy and the neoliberal economic and social system, yet the original meaning of the word falls close to the operation of ancient societies, based on gift exchange. In classical antiquity, man looked at money with suspicion, regarding it as a tool of corruption, and accepted it only as a substitute of or complement to gifts. In her lecture, Mari Lee Mifsud discussed those forgotten characteristics and advantages of gift economies that may prove to be useful to modern societies. Is it possible that instead of money – an alienating and depersonalised tool – the connecting force of the ancient rite of giving gifts will be used to make our world better? How can this help reduce the enormous social inequalities that make our coexistence so difficult? According to Professor Mifsud, on the basis of the contradictions between money and gifts, one can draw the conclusion that it is communication that will help humanity create the antidote to greed and violence.

Raymond W. Gibbs Jr.: Money Talks Because People Move
Ray Gibbs, Professor of the University of California, researches cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics. In his lecture, he discussed metaphors related to money: equity markets “rise”, “fly” or “plummet”, economies may be “strong” or “weak”, or, as far as our financial activities are concerned, we may “have money to burn” or “spend money like water”. Such expressions are often regarded as “dead” metaphors that are no longer connected to their original meanings and have become set phrases or even commonplaces. However, says Professor Gibbs, a lot of research shows that such metaphors are indeed living and, what is more, they are living in our movements. According to schools of cognitive linguistics, human thinking is basically metaphoric, and such metaphors are fundamentally linked to those physical sensations or experiences that human beings undergo with regard to a topic. In other words, human language and speech simulate the bodily nature, or the interactions of the physical world, which means that we speak of a concept or a social construction (such as money) as if we dealt with it at the physical level. As we almost always get in touch with money through metaphors, it is worth understanding why a specific expression is used and how it affects our thinking.

For the conference programme and the abstracts of lectures, please visit: http://bceconferences.hu

For a summary video of the conference, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXgWViq_2d0

Máté Baksa