Binswanger’s thesis is that Goethe was portraying the modern economy with its creation of paper money as a continuation of alchemy by other means. While traditional alchemists attempted to turn lead into gold, in the modern economy, paper was made into money.
We have all observed this, in our families, estates and communities, but  BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  here we see complexity quantified. The median household has not one income source, but 10 separate income sources!