- Over its last one a century, the State progressively decreased the value of the currency by 98%
- The high cost of government– especially, growing entitlements and continuous warfare, coupled with a diminished number of taxpayers, led the federal government to huge debt, to the point that it might not be repaid.
- Those citizens that were productive began to exit the country, discovering brand-new homes in nations that were not rather so advanced however provided much better prospects for the future.
- The decrease in the worth of the currency led to ever-increasing costs of items, so much so that the purchase of them ended up being a difficulty to the people. By governmental edict, wage and price controls were developed, forcing increases in salaries whilst capping the quantity that suppliers might charge for items.
- The outcome was that vendors provided fewer and fewer goods for sale, as the profit had been gotten rid of.
If the reader is a person of the EU or US, the above history may seem quite familiar, with the one exception that stringent wage and rate controls have not (yet) been carried out. Still, the history is accurate; it is the history of Rome.
The Roman denarius pictured above functions the profile of the emperor Diocletian, circa 301 AD, at the time when he provided the edict mentioned above. Like the US dollar that followed 1700 years later, the denarius was the most acknowledged and most highly regarded currency of its day, as it was practically 100% silver. However, it was progressively devalued by successive emperors during the Age of Inflation from 193 to 293 AD. This was done by reducing the quantity of silver in the coin till it was made completely of base metal, with a thin silver wash. Just as the US Federal Reserve cheapened the United States dollar 98% between 1913 and 2023, Rome cheapened the denarius over a similar period of time.
Still, there will be those who will declare that, as the dollar is the world’s default currency, it must restore its former strength.
I hesitate not. In 193 AD, the denarius enjoyed a similar position to that of the US dollar today. Yet, having actually been cheapened, it never regained its worth– in truth, not to this very day, even as an antique. The denarius pictured above was just recently provided on eBay for the ‘Buy Now’ price of $28.80. Not a really remarkable boost in value for a coin that has actually made it through for 1700 years.
History Repeats
We wish to think that, although some present governments are following the Roman road to destroy with remarkable resemblance, the result will in some way be brighter– that we will not witness the Fall of the Empire in our modern world. Definitely, this time around, political leaders will ‘do the best thing,’ and position their own individual ambitions below the requirement to restore the mess that they have actually created.
Once again, I hesitate not. As specified in Kershner’s First Law, historically,
“When an independent individuals provide upon their government the power to take money from some and provide it to others, the procedure will not stop up until the last bone of the last taxpayer is chosen bare.“
Here’s a similar insight, this time from G. Edward Griffin:
“When it is possible for individuals to vote on issues involving the transfer of wealth to themselves from others, the ballot box ends up being a weapon with which the majority ransacks the minority. That is the point of no return, the point where the end ofthe world mechanism begins to speed up until the system self-destructs. The ransacked grow weary of carrying the load and eventually join the plunderers. The productive base of the economy diminishes further and even more until only the state stays.”
Still, it will be argued that modern politicians have the histories of previous empires to review and will for that reason not duplicate their mistakes. But, once again, this is not the case. There have constantly been those who cautioned the State away from this pattern of self-destruction, as the following quote, credited to Cicero, 55 BC, testifies:
“The spending plan must be balanced, the Treasury needs to be filled up, public debt ought to be lowered, the conceit of officialdom must be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands need to be curtailed lest Rome become insolvent. People need to once again learn to work, instead of residing on public assistance.”
The pattern has existed for over 2000 years, and historically, empires have actually followed the pattern to ruin with amazing consistency, no matter cautions.
Continuing Examples
But prior to we finish here, the observant reader might mention that his nation has not set up wage and price controls, as in ancient Rome, which the present Empire might therefore not experience the predictable collapse that such controls would produce.
In considering this question, it would be handy to take a look at Venezuela and Argentina, two nations that are following a path very comparable to the EU and the US, but occur to be a bit further along in the pattern. They have, in truth, instituted such controls, with the outcome that their economies are nearing collapse.
Still, in a last ditch effort to prevent realising the inescapable, we might argue that Venezuela and Argentina are developing nation, and for that reason we may still expect a more favorable outcome. Not so, sadly. The United States has actually also trod this ground before. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, a last ditch effort by the US to stave off anxiety, triggered comparable tariffs in Europe, guaranteeing a deeper anxiety on both sides of the Atlantic.
The United States will continue to follow the pattern; it just hasn’t reached the tariff phase yet. We may for that reason list such a tariff under “Coming Attractions.”
An ever-greater variety of people are coming to the realisation that the EU and United States have actually ended up being runaway trains, trains that are headed for a cliff. More unpleasant, the firemen are clearly shovelling the coal into the engine at an alarming rate, speeding up the train rather than slowing it.
Most of us would prefer not to acknowledge that the train is headed for the cliff. This is easy to understand, as no one delights in the idea of leaping off a moving train. It’s not an enjoyable option to need to make. The reader might think about whether leaping off the train now may be preferable to the option.
Editor’s Note: Sadly, there’s little any individual can practically do to change the trajectory of this pattern in movement. The very best you can do is to remain informed so that you can secure yourself in the best way possible, and even make money from the scenario.
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