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>Describing Rome as "capitalist" in the modern sense is a gross misrepresentation of what is known about the ancient economy, ignoring the work of Finley and Po
by Consultant32452 9y ago
>Describing Rome as "capitalist" in the modern sense is a gross misrepresentation of what is known about the ancient economy, ignoring the work of Finley and Polanyi.
Government took only 5%.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_economy#GDP_and_income_distribution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_economy#GDP_and_income_d...
In the Scheidel–Friesen economic model, the total annual income generated by the Empire is placed at nearly 20 billion HS, with about 5 percent extracted by central and local government.
- pjc50 9y agoWhat does the marginal tax rate have to do with it? The economic structure was not similar to modern industrial organisation.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- Consultant32452 9y agoI don't understand how that's relevant. The citizens of Rome were able to keep 95% of the results of their labor. I'm certainly open to any suggestions you have about reducing my marginal tax rate to 5% if you think Rome is a good example of bringing people out of grinding poverty.
- boomboomsubban 9y ago"Citizens of Rome" meaning what? As the traditional meaning is literally the residents of Rome until 90 BCE, then reluctantly Italians. Provincials weren't citizens until 212 AD, and that still left out slaves.