How Inflation Destroyed the Roman Empire

Posted on by

There were many reasons the Roman Empire fell but, inflation and government spending were huge parts.  Government stimulus programs and public works became common then as they are today.  People today underestimate the complexity of the Roman Empire but, their bureaucracy was almost as large as ours today.  Aqueducts were often created to give people employment just like “The Community Reinvestment Act” seeks to do today.  I find this interesting on many different levels.  For one, Rome’s policies were very similar to ours today.  They even had similar names like jobs bill and community reinvestment act.    There is a book written in the 1940s called the “New Deal in Old Rome” that compares Roman governance in the later Empire to New Deal programs.  The parallels are almost bizarre.

Then, just like today, government bureaucracy and spending were only part of the problem, the much bigger problem was inflation.  Inflation was rampant and brought the Empire to its knees.  The rates of inflation increased over time at a similar rate to that at which the United States is currently.

 

What is really staggering is that the Roman Empire’s fiscal transgressions are nothing compared to the modern United States’.  Rome had to dilute its coins by recalling them every few years and watering them down with other metals, while the U.S. can simply print bills of credit to infinity with no checks in place at all.  Nero would be envious indeed of the American State’s monetary power.  Rome also centralized everything into its capital city and attempted to regulate its provinces from afar but, again this is nothing compared to the centralization that Washington DC has been able to accomplish.  For all the corruption that infected the Roman government, it is tame compared to the corruption of the American Political Class. Here is a brief presentation on Roman Inflation.

This one is a bit longer.

 

 

23,276 thoughts on “How Inflation Destroyed the Roman Empire”

  14. Hey! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a collection of volunteers and starting a new initiative in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a wonderful job!

    Reply ↓

  26. Good web site! I really love how it is simple on my eyes and the data are well written. I am wondering how I might be notified whenever a new post has been made. I’ve subscribed to your feed which must do the trick! Have a nice day!

    Reply ↓

  27. Today, I went to the beach front with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!

    Reply ↓

  29. My programmer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP.

    I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less.
    I’ve been using WordPress on various websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform.
    I have heard fantastic things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import
    all my wordpress content into it? Any kind of
    help would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply ↓

  34. Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A theme like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog shine. Please let me know where you got your design. Kudos

    Reply ↓

  49. Hi there! This article couldn’t be written much better!
    Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
    He constantly kept preaching about this. I most certainly will forward this information to
    him. Pretty sure he’ll have a very good read. I appreciate you for sharing!

    my page: New Jersey Fake ID

    Reply ↓

  50. I found your weblog site on google and test a number of of your early posts. Proceed to keep up the excellent operate. I just further up your RSS feed to my MSN News Reader. Searching for ahead to studying extra from you afterward!…

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *