> The 2% annual debasement rate of modern state currencies would have been a massive crisis in the era of metals. Imagine a king putting 2% less silver in the

> The 2% annual debasement rate of modern state currencies would have been a massive crisis in the era of metals. Imagine a king putting 2% less silver in the coin, year over year. We're just used to it. Say what? Coins were intrinsically valued and not used like currency as it is today. It wasn't until about the 1500s we even really see currency being used and it was hand waves a bunch of stuff thanks to the Dutch merchant class. In Rome people didn't spend money, they hoarded it, because the pile itself was a sign of wealth. Spending it was looked down upon. They instead purchased primarily through bartering of goods and resources. There was no middle class either to spend money, you were nobility, a solider, or a slave. A lot of folks want to apply modern economics to historical contexts where it cannot be. There's too much missing when taking in only from the lens of Economics to evaluate or judge things accurately.