Here is a very good (and beautifully illustrated) video about the 1623 currency crisis caused in the Holy Roman Empire (central Europe) by adulterating and debasing the currency.
The author makes the point that today’s central banks (including the Federal Reserve) are similarly debasing the currency by creating digital currency (Quantitative Easing) without increasing production of goods and services in the real economy.
This video makes the same point as the book “The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000,” by Paul Kennedy. Great Powers (including Rome, which wasn’t in this book) that overextend themselves militarily eventually undermine their productive economies. If they continue to overextend themselves they borrow money to pay for the military which eventually bankrupts the government.
These two videos point out parallels between the past and today’s America.
Of course they raised taxes! But the tax collectors and government officials were corrupt and stole much of the revenue. And the insatiable costs of the never-ending wars more than swallowed the taxes. The 1623 crisis was near the start of the 30 Years War.
The difficult part of the history is distinguishing between the effects of the current debasement and those of the 30 Years War, one of the most destructive in European history. Not to mention the effects of massive population decline.
Thank you for sharing the videos, they provided a teaser for me to look for some books to understand the presented information.
Word of caution - we’re living in a world of AI produced videos. It’s easy for someone without any real knowledge to quickly create content about topics they know nothing about.
@eldemonio thanks for the caution. I have spent decades reading books about history and economics…and the history of economics. So I know from prior knowledge that these videos are accurate.
If you would like some entertaining reading that is directly germane to this thread I recommend:
"“The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000,” by Paul Kennedy.
After WW II we faced massive debt. We upped the taxes on corporations and the rich to grow the GDP very fast.
Great Depression policies in the 1970s caused a huge debasement of the currency. We switched our fiscal and monetary policies.
Today we have more debt in real terms than after WW II. We could actually raise taxes and fix this entirely. It is not hard to do. It is politically impossible.
Part of why it is impossible, everyone who wants to discuss things won’t discuss raising taxes to grow the US economy. A complete deriliction. Nyt, wsj, wapo…? Where are they? AWOL. I am not saying “mention” it. I am saying discuss the theory with your bullhorn in simple economic terms why it is an advantage for the country.
AI can easily fool someone who does not know the subject but, as Wendy wrote, these videos match my understanding of history. To sum up, when you or an empire can’t pay its bills it goes broke. Money, real money, does matter a lot. That is gold’s ultimate claim to fame.
The market is us as in Americans living here. To make money off of us, corporations pay taxes here. Up the corporate tax, they will spend money to write off expenses or pay the money to the taxman. Our economy can grow a lot faster and bring down the tax burden longer term.
You know this. but
I am going to eventually incorporate my software company in Ireland. My profits in the US will have taxes paid on them in the US.
I will pay more in taxes in Ireland, but the ignorance going on right now has me leaving.
