This article discusses the major work of the American institutionalist J. R. Commons, “Institutional Economics.” In this book, Commons argues that institutions are constantly changing due to two conflicting forces: the political government (“sovereignty”) and the economic government (the alliance between the pay community and industry). This finding sheds some light on the largely unknown origin of the works of several French monetary institutionalists. I conclude this article with a discussion of another aspect of the theory of institutional reformation in “Institutional Economics,” examining the development of French monetary institutionalism.