I've let several volumes on the history of the Roman empire. To summarize some of what I remember:
Economic Parallels
What we've been doing to the dollar parallels that of the Roman denarius and antoninianus:
![[Image: 650px-Decline_of_the_antoninianus.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Decline_of_the_antoninianus.jpg/650px-Decline_of_the_antoninianus.jpg)
![[Image: us-dollar-debasement.jpg?w=640]](http://thinkingmachineblog.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/us-dollar-debasement.jpg?w=640)
The debasement of currency is antithetical to freedom, and it's been ongoing since the 1970s. You could argue that the free market died in 1913, its name is evoked only to describe the criminality of our financial banking sector to push a totalitarian agenda, even more centralization. The supremacy of our military is what keeps the dollar as the world reserve currency and backs our economy as the Roman's legions did, but simultaneously it takes a trillion dollars to fund every year and is crucifying our prosperity.
In addition to the hidden tax of inflation, outright tax increases mirror that of the Roman Empire. In the last days, soldiers were literally physically present in the markets, to extract taxes from every transaction. Similarly, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, expiration of the payroll tax cuts, the imposition of Obamacare.
Also, historically low birthrates afflicted both nations. The unfunded liabilities of pensions promised to the urban cohorts, regular army legionaries, Praetorian guards, on top of their base salary (which skyrocketed the more chaotic things became) eventually resulted in the black swan event when the demographics finally caught up with fiscal mismanagement (not enough people were born to enter the base of the Ponzi scheme), and loss of confidence in the currency.
Another was the weakening of national identity. The Romans' birthrate plummeted while the non-Roman and barbarian populations rose. They had their own version of cultural Marxism/destruction of traditional values in the influence of Greek culture with Scipio Africanus (Graecophilia was seen as hedonistic and those protective of distinct Roman culture such as Cato the Elder saw the old ways wane). This too is reflected in our society today with mass immigration, welfare lineages, feminism, progressive interpretation of the Constitution etc.
Starting with Tiberius and Caligula, it became normal for new emperors for buy the loyalty of their armies to secure their ascension to the throne with gold aurei. In the heyday of the empire, under Caesar and Augustus, the army was paid from spoils of war. But as military fatigue and corruption set in, the lack of expansion and conquest exposed the unsustainabe nature of the system. I wonder if there were ancient forerunners to the modern Austrian economists who were warning the leaders lol.
Ludwig von Mises based much of his research on the monetary policies of the emperors. Under Constantine, currency reform was enacted, unfunded liabilities were nonexistent, he didn't impose price controls which would've disrupted free market equilibrium, and as a result, the Roman Empire enjoyed centuries of prosperity and were able to handle the threat of barbarian threats.
The historians' records of how successive emperor paid hundreds of thousands more than the previous to the army and debased the currency a little more, and the excavated coins were weighed with their silver/gold content, which declined throughout.
You see the same dynamic of more promises of welfare, entitlements, etc. every election cycle, more socialism, diminishing labor force and tax base and greater income disparity as a result of ZIRP and the Fed's policies, making the problem worse.
Economic Parallels
What we've been doing to the dollar parallels that of the Roman denarius and antoninianus:
The debasement of currency is antithetical to freedom, and it's been ongoing since the 1970s. You could argue that the free market died in 1913, its name is evoked only to describe the criminality of our financial banking sector to push a totalitarian agenda, even more centralization. The supremacy of our military is what keeps the dollar as the world reserve currency and backs our economy as the Roman's legions did, but simultaneously it takes a trillion dollars to fund every year and is crucifying our prosperity.
In addition to the hidden tax of inflation, outright tax increases mirror that of the Roman Empire. In the last days, soldiers were literally physically present in the markets, to extract taxes from every transaction. Similarly, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, expiration of the payroll tax cuts, the imposition of Obamacare.
Also, historically low birthrates afflicted both nations. The unfunded liabilities of pensions promised to the urban cohorts, regular army legionaries, Praetorian guards, on top of their base salary (which skyrocketed the more chaotic things became) eventually resulted in the black swan event when the demographics finally caught up with fiscal mismanagement (not enough people were born to enter the base of the Ponzi scheme), and loss of confidence in the currency.
Another was the weakening of national identity. The Romans' birthrate plummeted while the non-Roman and barbarian populations rose. They had their own version of cultural Marxism/destruction of traditional values in the influence of Greek culture with Scipio Africanus (Graecophilia was seen as hedonistic and those protective of distinct Roman culture such as Cato the Elder saw the old ways wane). This too is reflected in our society today with mass immigration, welfare lineages, feminism, progressive interpretation of the Constitution etc.
Starting with Tiberius and Caligula, it became normal for new emperors for buy the loyalty of their armies to secure their ascension to the throne with gold aurei. In the heyday of the empire, under Caesar and Augustus, the army was paid from spoils of war. But as military fatigue and corruption set in, the lack of expansion and conquest exposed the unsustainabe nature of the system. I wonder if there were ancient forerunners to the modern Austrian economists who were warning the leaders lol.
Ludwig von Mises based much of his research on the monetary policies of the emperors. Under Constantine, currency reform was enacted, unfunded liabilities were nonexistent, he didn't impose price controls which would've disrupted free market equilibrium, and as a result, the Roman Empire enjoyed centuries of prosperity and were able to handle the threat of barbarian threats.
The historians' records of how successive emperor paid hundreds of thousands more than the previous to the army and debased the currency a little more, and the excavated coins were weighed with their silver/gold content, which declined throughout.
You see the same dynamic of more promises of welfare, entitlements, etc. every election cycle, more socialism, diminishing labor force and tax base and greater income disparity as a result of ZIRP and the Fed's policies, making the problem worse.