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Prometheus Award

2012-03-23T11:46:33Z

173.245.53.166: Prometheus award libertarian sci fi

The '''Prometheus Award''' is an award for [[libertarian science fiction]] novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society, which also publishes a quarterly journal ''Prometheus''. [[L. Neil Smith]] established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newly founded Libertarian Futurist Society revived it in 1982. The Society created a Hall of Fame Award (for classic works of libertarian science fiction, not necessarily novels) in 1983, and also presents occasional one-off awards.

==Prometheus Award recipients==

*1979 – [[F. Paul Wilson]], ''[[Wheels Within Wheels (novel)|Wheels Within Wheels]]''
*1980 – award not given
*1981 – award not given
*1982 – [[L. Neil Smith]], ''[[The Probability Broach]]''
*1983 – [[James P. Hogan (writer)|James P. Hogan]], ''[[Voyage from Yesteryear]]'' <ref name=G1> Holland, Steve. [[The Guardian]], ''Obituary: James P Hogan'', 6 August 2010</ref>
*1984 – [[J. Neil Schulman]], ''[[The Rainbow Cadenza]]''
*1985 – No Winner ("[[None of the Above]]")
*1986 – [[Victor Milan]], ''[[Cybernetic Samurai]]''
*1987 – [[Vernor Vinge]], ''[[Marooned in Realtime]]''
*1988 – [[Victor Koman]], ''[[The Jehovah Contract]]''
*1989 – [[Brad Linaweaver]], ''[[Moon of Ice]]''
*1990 – [[Victor Koman]], ''[[Solomon's Knife]]''
*1991 – [[Michael Flynn (author)|Michael Flynn]], ''[[In the Country of the Blind]]''
*1992 – [[Larry Niven]], [[Jerry Pournelle]] and [[Michael Flynn (author)|Michael Flynn]], ''[[Fallen Angels (science fiction novel)|Fallen Angels]]''
*1993 – [[James P. Hogan (writer)|James P. Hogan]], ''[[The Multiplex Man]]'' <ref name=G1/>
*1994 – [[L. Neil Smith]], ''[[Pallas (L. Neil Smith)|Pallas]]''
*1995 – [[Poul Anderson]], ''[[The Stars are also Fire]]''
*1996 – [[Ken MacLeod]], ''[[The Star Fraction]]''
*1997 – [[Victor Koman]], ''[[Kings of the High Frontier]]''
*1998 – [[Ken MacLeod]], ''[[The Stone Canal]]''
*1999 – [[John Varley (author)|John Varley]], ''[[The Golden Globe]]''
*2000 – [[Vernor Vinge]], ''[[A Deepness in the Sky]]''
*2001 – [[L. Neil Smith]], ''[[The Forge of the Elders]]''
*2002 – [[Donald Kingsbury]], ''[[Psychohistorical Crisis]]''
*2003 – [[Terry Pratchett]], ''[[Night Watch (Pratchett novel)|Night Watch]]''
*2004 – [[F. Paul Wilson]], ''[[Sims (novel) | Sims]]''
*2005 – [[Neal Stephenson]], ''[[The System of the World (novel)|The System of the World]]''
*2006 – [[Ken MacLeod]], ''[[Learning the World]]''
*2007 – [[Charles Stross]], ''[[Glasshouse (novel)|Glasshouse]]''
*2008 – [[Harry Turtledove]], ''[[The Gladiator (novel)|The Gladiator]]'' and [[Jo Walton]], ''[[Ha'penny (novel)|Ha'Penny]]'' (tie)
*2009 – [[Cory Doctorow]], ''[[Little Brother (Cory Doctorow novel)|Little Brother]]''
*2010 – [[Dani Kollin]] & [[Eytan Kollin]], ''[[The Unincorporated Man]]''
*2011 – [[Sarah Hoyt]], ''[[Darkship Thieves]]''

==Hall of Fame Award recipients==

*1983 – [[Robert A. Heinlein]], ''[[The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress]]''; [[Ayn Rand]], ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]''
*1984 – [[George Orwell]], ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''; [[Ray Bradbury]], ''[[Fahrenheit 451]]''
*1985 – [[Poul Anderson]], ''Trader to the Stars''; [[Eric Frank Russell]], ''[[The Great Explosion]]''
*1986 – [[Cyril Kornbluth]], ''The Syndic''; [[Robert Anton Wilson]] and [[Robert Shea]], [[Illuminatus trilogy|''Illuminatus!'' trilogy]]
*1987 – [[Robert A. Heinlein]], ''[[Stranger in a Strange Land]]''; [[Ayn Rand]], ''[[Anthem (novella)|Anthem]]''
*1988 – [[Alfred Bester (author)|Alfred Bester]], ''[[The Stars My Destination]]''
*1989 – [[J. Neil Schulman]], ''[[Alongside Night]]''
*1990 – [[F. Paul Wilson]], ''The Healer''
*1991 – [[F. Paul Wilson]], ''An Enemy of the State''
*1992 – [[Ira Levin]], ''[[This Perfect Day]]''
*1993 – [[Ursula K. Le Guin]], ''[[The Dispossessed]]''
*1994 – [[Yevgeny Zamyatin]], ''[[We (novel)|We]]''
*1995 – [[Poul Anderson]], ''The Star Fox''
*1996 – [[Robert A. Heinlein]], ''[[Red Planet (novel)|Red Planet]]''
*1997 – [[Robert A. Heinlein]], ''[[Methuselah's Children]]''
*1998 – [[Robert A. Heinlein]], ''[[Time Enough for Love]]''
*1999 – [[H. Beam Piper]] and [[John J. McGuire]], ''A Planet for Texans'' aka ''Lone Star Planet''
*2000 – [[Hans Christian Andersen]], "[[The Emperor's New Clothes]]"
*2001 – [[Jerry Pournelle]] and [[John F. Carr]]: editors, ''The Survival of Freedom''
*2002 – [[Patrick McGoohan]], ''[[The Prisoner]]'' (TV series)
*2003 – [[Robert A. Heinlein]], ''[[Requiem (short story)|Requiem]]''
*2004 – [[Vernor Vinge]], ''[[The Ungoverned]]''
*2005 – [[A. E. van Vogt]], ''[[The Weapon Shops of Isher]]''
*2006 – [[Alan Moore]] (author) and [[David Lloyd (comics)|David Lloyd]] (illustrator), ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' graphic novel
*2007 – [[Sinclair Lewis]], ''[[It Can't Happen Here]]'' and [[Vernor Vinge]], ''[[True Names]]''
*2008 – [[Anthony Burgess]], ''[[A Clockwork Orange]]''
*2009 – [[J. R. R. Tolkien]], ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''
*2010 – [[Poul Anderson]], "[[No Truce with Kings]]"
*2011 – [[George Orwell]], "[[Animal Farm]]"

==Special Award recipients==

*1998 – [[Brad Linaweaver]] and [[Edward E. Kramer]]: editors, ''Free Space'' (anthology)
*2001 – [[Poul Anderson]], Special Prometheus Award for Lifetime Achievement
*2005 – Mark Tier and [[Martin H. Greenberg]]: editors, ''Give Me Liberty'' and ''Visions of Liberty'' (anthologies for Baen Books)
*2005 – [[L. Neil Smith]] (writer) and [[Scott Bieser]] (illustrator), ''[[The Probability Broach]]: The Graphic Novel''
*2006 – [[Joss Whedon]] (writer-director), ''[[Serenity (film)|Serenity]]''
*2007 – [[James McTeigue]] (director) and [[the Wachowski brothers]] (screenplay), ''[[V For Vendetta (film)|V for Vendetta]]'' (Motion Picture)

==See also==
*[[Anarcho-capitalist literature]]
*[[Libertarian science fiction]]
*[[Libertarianism]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.lfs.org/ Libertarian Futurist Society]
*[http://www.lfs.org/releases.htm 2008 Prometheus Award finalists]
*[http://www.locusmag.com/SFAwards/Db/Prometheus.html Locus Magazine's Index of Prometheus Award winners]
*[http://www.salon.com/books/feature/1999/07/27/macleod_interview/print.html Award discussed in this Salon.com interview with 2-time Prometheus Award winner Ken MacLeod]

East Germany

2012-03-19T09:45:07Z

173.245.53.166:

'''German Democratic Republic''' (GDR), byname '''East Germany''', ''German'' '''Deutsche Demokratische Republik''', or '''Ostdeutschland'''(Mitteldeutschland) is a former country (1949–90) that constitutes the northeastern section of present-day [[Germany]].<ref name="Britannica_GDR">
Encyclopædia Britannica. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/230706/German-Democratic-Republic "German Democratic Republic. (2012)."] Referenced 2012-03-04.</ref>

==Population==
From its founding, the GDR struggled to stabilize its population and thwart [[emigration]]. In the course of its forty-year history, almost one-quarter of East Germany's population fled the state to settle in West Germany (a decline of three million people, from 19 million in 1948 to 16 million in 1990<ref name="East_Population">Populstat.info. [http://www.populstat.info/Europe/germanec.htm "East Germany: country population"]. Referenced 2012-03-04.</ref>).

In the 1950s alone, more than 2 million people moved west, a migration that triggered the regime's radical solution in August 1961--the construction of the [[Berlin Wall]]. During most of its existence, the only segment of East Germany's population permitted to leave for West Germany were retirees, whose resettlement there was unofficially encouraged to reduce the GDR's pension payments. As a result, the number of persons sixty years of age and older in the GDR fell from 22.1 percent in 1970 to 18.3 percent in 1985 and made the East German population younger than that of West Germany.<ref name="Studies_Population">[http://www.country-studies.com/germany/population---historical-background.html "Population - Historical Background"], ''Country Studies''. Referenced 2012-03-04.</ref>

The record year for population loss was 1953, year of [[Uprising of 1953 in East Germany|revolt]] and repression. During those traumatic twelve months, almost 400,000 left for the West. The figure dropped in 1954 to less than 200,000 before starting to climb again, staying at around a quarter of a million annually for the next three years. In the first twelve years of its existence, East Germany lost around a sixth of its population. Shortly before the construction of the [[Berlin Wall]], the number of emigrants arriving in West Berlin had exceeded 2,500. (If this had continued, the population could be expected to diminish at the rate of about a million a year.)

It was the skilled workers, doctors (of whom 20 percent fled westwards between 1954 and 1961) and nurses and teachers and engineers, who were choosing to go west. Because of these population losses, the GDR was also suffering a labor shortage.<ref name="Taylor_Wall">Frederick Taylor. ''The Berlin Wall''. ISBN 9781408802564. 2006. Pages: 100, 119, 173, 373-376, 388-389, 414-415. Referenced 2012-03-04.</ref>

==Economy==
By early 1960, the GDR was suffering from serious shortages of raw materials and quality industrial products as well as food. It was heavily in debt both to the [[USSR]] and the West. Far from overtaking West Germany, the GDR was falling further behind. If such a word were permitted in the Communist lexicon - which it was not - then the situation in East Germany could be only described as a [[recession]].

In the 1970s, like other Communist countries such as Poland and Hungary, East Germany had embarked on a policy of importing technologies from the West in the hope of raising productivity. To do this, the government in East Berlin had accepted Western credits, assuming it would be able to repay them from the economic improvements these imports would bring. But from 1973, when the first [[1973 oil crisis|oil crisis]] hit, the GDR had serious energy and raw-materials problems. Cheap raw materials and oil from Russia made up for the truncated state's lack of natural resources, and favorable price agreements compensated for the lack of real productivity increases in the GDR's industry. In the mid-1970s, the Soviet Union raised its prices for vital supplies of fuel and raw materials. In 1979-80 came the second 'oil shock', and the Soviet Union reduced its oil deliveries to the GDR. The country slid into a situation of massive indebtedness to both the USSR and the West.

In the 1980s, East Germany was frighteningly uncompetitive outside the Soviet bloc. Thuringia and Saxony especially had always been in the forefront of the industrial and technological revolution, from the early 19th century until the time of the Third Reich. Bomb damage, sequestering of plant and machinery by the Soviets for reparations, heavy-handed socialisation of industry, and the subsequent loss of expert management, capital, patents and skilled workers to the West, had weakened the country's economic fundamentals.

Before the [[First World War]], Saxony, along with neighboring Bohemia (later the [[Czech Republic]]) enjoyed the higfest real net output in Europe. Chemnitz, with a population of 400,000, was known as the 'Manchester of Germany'. Until the collapse of the Third Reich, Dresden, with its camera and typewriter factories and electronics workshops, was the second fastest growing city after Berlin. Leipzig, Magdeburg, Halle and Jena were booming manufacturing centers. In 1939, industrial production per head in the region that would a decade later become the GDR amounted to 725 Reichsmark per year. In the territories that would become West Germany, production per head was only 609 Reichsmarks.

The East, which should have been more advantaged, never recovered under the bureaucratic, centrally directed command structure that remained the basis of the GDR's economy. Despite this, with West Germany tapped successfully for credits, with relatively favorable terms of trade with the Eastern Bloc and parts of the Third World, and despite raw-minerals and energy problems and mounting deficits, the GDR maintained a facade of success. As the East German state approach its fortieth anniversary, it appeared to many unsuspecting outsiders to represent a confident, progressive and egalitarian alternative to grasping, high-stress Western capitalism.

In the 1980s, when according to the economic plan the country was supposed to be turning into a high-tech, R&D-based modern powerhouse, the story had in fact been one of steady decline and increasing foreign debt. The GDR could only imitate, not innovate. Between 1980 and 1989, the outlay required for a state enterprise to earn one West mark almost doubled, from 2.40 East marks to 4.40. The Soviet Union, with grave financial and economic problems of its own, had indicated that it would be scaling down deliveries of cheap oil to East Germany and raising foreign trade prices within the Eastern Bloc to world market levels.

In the final moments of the regime, on 30 October, 1989, a highly secret 'Report on the Economic Situation of the GDR with Consequences' was submitted to the Politburo. It made clear what had been hidden all those years, even from many members of the party leadership. The country was a wreck and approaching bankruptcy. More than half of all industrial facilities was effective classifiable as scrap. 53.8 percent of all machines were write-offs, only reparable at a cost that could simply not be justified. Half the transport infrastructure was in a state of decay. Productivity was around 40 per cent behind the West's. State indebtedness has risen from 12 billion marks in 1970 to 23 billion in 1988. Direct debts to capitalist states and banks had increased during that period from 2 billion to 49 billion West marks.

The GDR was largely dependent on capitalist credit institutions and annual borrowing was running at 8-10 billion West marks. The country had embarked on an increasingly frantic game of financial manipulation, moving cash around the international money markets at speed, inflating the extent of its claimed assets and understating its true debt in order to raise more credit. The GDR was covertly taking out short-term loans to make interest payments on long-term credit, and using this apparently creditworthy status to assume yet more debt. This was criminal deception, fraud on a vast scale.<ref name="Taylor_Wall" />

===Official black market===
From the 1970s, the GDR was in a state of crisis that continued for the rest of its existence. The people had to be kept happy with consumer goods and social benefits, or the regime would risk another [[Uprising of 1953 in East Germany|1953]]. There was a social-security and welfare system to pay for - the cradle-to-grave safety net that helped compensate East Germans for their lack of freedom to travel, express themselves fully, or enrich themselves. An army and a security apparatus - after the USSR, the GDR had proportionally the second-highest military budget in the East Bloc (5.8 percent of GDP), twice or even thrice those of its allies. The army, the ''[[Stasi]]'' at home and abroad, the cost of maintaining, extending and manning the border and the Berlin Wall, all these calls on East German finances were sky-high and, as the balance of payments deteriorated, crippling.

The state responded in a way unusual in a modern industrial country. It basically set up a completely alternative, secret economy, that it didn't have to account for. The organization, highly secret and closely tied with the ''Stasi'', was known as the 'Commercial Co-ordination' (KoKo). Founded in 1966, it was charged with earning hard currency outside the normal, planned economic system.

The advantage, as the GDR accumulated foreign debts, was that KoKo, this secret store of foreign currency, wasn't liable for payment of interest on foreign loans and could be used to plug gaps in the state's finances. Through KoKo, the elite were supplied with Western goods and personal luxuries unavailable to the vast majority of East Germans. It built up a labyrinthine network of more than 220 mailbox and front companies in East and West. It sold arms to the Third World - most successfully trading with both Iran and Iraq during the [[Iran–Iraq War|war]] that begun in 1980 - and through front companies secretly imported high-tech goods from the West that had been placed on the banned list by NATO.

KoKo also exported large quantities of valuable antiques and artworks to the West, where they were sold for hard currency. In many cases these treasures were confiscated from their owners, who had previously been presented with huge and mostly fictitious tax bills. In some cases, the owners were imprisoned, until they agreed to cede their possessions to the state.

A final source of foreign currency came from the GDR's sale of its political prisoners to the West - political prisoners as 'export items'. At least 200,000 East Germans were convicted of political crimes of some kind in the forty years of GDR's existence. About 34,000 of these prisoners were released on payment by the West German government. In the 1960s, the price per head was around DM 40,000, while by the 1980s the West Germans were paying almost DM 100,000 for each human being set free. The official proceeds of prisoner-trading amounted to at least DM 3.4 billion; Schalck-Golodkowski (KoKo's long-term director) later put the figure at around DM 8 billion.<ref name="Taylor_Wall" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Links==
* Studies about [http://countrystudies.us/germany/ Germany] and [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/gxtoc.html East Germany] from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
* [http://www.chronik-der-mauer.de/index.php/de/Media/TextPopup/id/593077/month/Oktober/oldAction/Detail/oldModule/Chronical/year/1989 SED-Politbürovorlage: Analyse der ökonomischen Lage der DDR mit Schlußfolgerungen] (''German'': "Report on the Economic Situation of the GDR with Consequences"), October 30, 1989, Gerhard Schürer et al.
* [http://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae5_2_4.pdf De-Socialization in a United Germany] (pdf) by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, 1991
* [http://mises.org/freemarket_detail.aspx?control=295 The Intellectual Cover for Socialism] by Hans-Hermann Hoppe, February 1988
* {{wplink}}

[[Category:Former countries]]
[[Category:Germany]]

Money and banking in Ancient Rome

2012-02-22T08:11:06Z

173.245.53.166: /* The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire */ Typo.

{{RightTOC}}'''[[Ancient Rome]]''' grew out of a small city state in today's [[Italy]] to a great empire, that dominated much of Europe. Eventually, it broke apart, the Western part disintegrated, while the [[Wikipedia:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Empire]] lived on in the east.

The silver [[denarius]], patterned after the Greek drachma, was introduced about 212 BC. Soon after, the prior copper coin (''[[aes]]'', or libra) began to be debased until, by the onset of the empire, its weight had been reduced from 1 pound (12 Roman ounces) to half an ounce. By contrast the silver denarius and the gold [[aureus]] (introduced about 87 BC) suffered only minor debasement until the time of [[Nero]] (AD 54), when almost continuous tampering with the coinage began. The metal content of the gold and silver coins was reduced, while the proportion of alloy was increased to three-fourths or more of its weight.<ref name="Britannica_money">Encyclopedia Britannica. [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/389170/money "Money"], referenced 2009-08-09.</ref>

==Roman Republic==
The first Roman coin was the bronze '''[[as]]''', introduced in 289 BC after the successful war with [[Samnium]]. It was heavy, weighing a full Roman pound (327,45 g, equal to 12 ounces).

<center>1 as = 2 semis = 3 quadrans = 6 sextans = 12 uncia</center>

The first silver coin was the ''didrachm'', introduced 269 BC after victory in war with [[Pyrrhic War|Tarentum]] and [[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]] - Rome controlled Samnium, [[Lucania]] and [[Calabria|Bruttium]], practically all of Italy, leading to the conflict with [[Carthage|Carthago]]. The wealth gained in the war made a silver currency possible, though the coins with a Greek-Italic design were probably made for the conquered lands, which were using Greek [[drachma]]s for centuries. In 241 the [[First Punic War|war with Carthago]] brought [[Sicily]] under control. In 235 BC were the unwieldy bronze coins reduced to a half weight with the same nominal value, turning them into credit coins.

Italy is poor in precious metal ores. The [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]] had no metals. Most important were the deposits in [[Tuscany]], mainly with iron, copper and tin, little silver and no gold. Only in Bruttium was a significant amount of silver.

<center>1 denarius = 2 [[Quinarius|quinarii]] = 4 [[Sestertius|sestertii]] = 10 as</center>

Rome was the official place to mint coins, only [[Imperator]]s were allowed to coin outside of Rome. Gold coins are rare until Caesar's times, mostly made by Imperators ([[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]], [[Sextus Pompey|Sextus Pompeius]]).

The [[Second Punic War]] was led mainly for [[Hispania]] (Spain), among other things for its wealth in gold and silver. After the terrible defeat at [[Battle of Cannae|Cannae]] followed the reduction of the ''as'' to 4 ounces. In 201 BC was Carthago defeated and Hispania finally became a colony. Rome could pursue numerous wars in the east, by 148 BC were [[Macedonian Wars|Macedonia]] and Greece turned into provinces.

In 187 BC were introduced actual Roman silver coins with the [[denarius]]. 1 pound of silver was divided into 72 ''denarii'', weighing 4,55 g. A denar was 10 ''as'', which was reduced to the weight of the old sextant of two ounces (54 g).<ref name="Gaettens_Roman">Richard Gaettens. ''Geschichte der Inflationen Von Altertum bis zum Gegenwart'' (German: History of Inflations from Old Ages to the Present), ''Der Zusammenbruch des römischen Münnzwesens'' (The Collapse of the Roman Currency) p. 22-39. ISBN: ISBN 3-87045-211-0. Referenced 2010-01-20.</ref>

==The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire==
From at least the 4th century B.C.. the Roman government bought grain in times of shortage and resold it at a lower price. At 58 B.C. was the law changed: every citizen should receive free wheat. To the surprise of the government, most farmers left the country to live in Rome without working. To deal with the increasing economical problems, the emperors gradually began to devalue their currency.<ref name="Schuettinger_Rome">Robert L. Schuettinger and Eamonn F. Butler. "[[Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls]]", Chapter 2 - The Roman Republic and Empire, p. 19-27, referenced 2009-08-09.</ref>

The Roman Republic was not exactly prepared to be a world power with many colonies. The [[Roman Senate|Senate]] could not pass laws, only perform duties transferred to it, the officials were elected annually. The huge incomes from the provinces fell to the [[patrician]]s that ran them, the money used for politics and a life of opulence. The debt many went into and their spending are well documented. [[Wikipedia:Julius Caesar|Caesar]] himself is one example, but he gained great wealth in his wars against the [[Gallic Wars|Gallic and Germanic]] tribes. When the [[Caesar's Civil War|Civil War]] was over, Caesar celebrated a huge [[Roman triumph|triumph]], with many feasts and games for the people. His troops have been rewarded with gold coins. Made for the occasion, the production of the ''[[aureus]]'' continued and it still belongs to the most frequently found Roman gold coins. (40 ''aurei'' were made from a pound, each 8,19 gram gold).

Under [[Augustus]], coining of silver and gold became the privilege of the emperor. The Senate was only responsible for bronze coins in Rome, some provinces, like Syria and Egypt, had the privilege to make their own coins. Gold and silver were fixed in a relation of 12 ½. 42 ''aurei'' were made from a pound of gold, weighing 7,96 g. A pound silver was made into 84 ''denarii'' at 3,9 g (the purity ranged from 100-95%, most probably due to technical limitations). This binding of prices between [[gold]] and [[silver]] (and bronze) made the system subject to [[Gresham's Law]] and so more vulnerable. The sestercius and [[dupondius]] were made from [[Orichalcum|aurichalcum]] ([[brass]]), which was valued more than bronze at the time. The as and quadrans (a quarter of an as) were made from pure copper.

<center>1 aureus = 25 denarii = 100 sestertii = 200 dupondii = 400 asses</center>

Augustus wanted the aureus and denarius to circulate not only in the Roman Empire, but to make them a world currency - and he succeeded. [[India]] accepted the gold and silver coins in large amounts and much silver was hoarded in [[Germania]]. The coins made their way to China, are known from [[Siberia]] and [[Scandinavia]], as from Africa's East Coast.

The currency remained unchanged until the rule of [[Nero]]. The aureus was reduced to 7,29g (45 per pound of gold) and the denarius to 3,41g (96 per pound silver). The denarius was minted with an 5-10% addition of base metal, but its ratio to the aureus was kept. It was theorized, that this was done to prevent the outflow of silver and gold; and indeed, India stopped accepting the denarius completely, while the Germans preferred the older coins.<ref name="Gaettens_Roman" />

===The crisis and soldier-emperors===
Another devaluation followed under [[Trajan]], the denarius was set to a purity of about 85%. The price of silver and gold has changed due to the great loot in gold from the [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|Dacian Wars]] and Trajan's drive for gold mining in the region. A further lowering of the content to 75% followed under [[Marcus Aurelius]], probably because of the [[Marcomannic Wars]]. The Germans ceased to accept the denarius and preferred gold instead. The silver content sunk to 50% under [[Septimius Severus]].

[[Caracalla]] reformed the currency in 215 AD. The aureus was set down to 50 per pound. A new silver coin was introduced with a weight of about 5,1g of a worse purity than the denarius, the '''[[antoninianus]]''' (later possibly called the [[miliarense]]). The reason may have been the steadily falling price of bronze - a pound of gold went from 4000 to 5000 sestertii. But the denarius was still coined by some emperors.

After the Severan line died out in 235 AD, the "[[Crisis of the Third Century|soldier emperors]]" were in constant need of money. The crisis came into full display under [[Valerian I]] and his son [[Gallienus]], who couldn't get enough silver for coinage. Its content in the antoninian was lowered to 20%, but soon down to 5%. It basically stopped being a silver coin, and had a plating of silver and later tin to maintain its color. A rapid inflation followed. The constant civil wars, destruction of property and the falling price of bronze leading to the outflow of gold and silver did not help the situation either. (It was estimated, that from the time of Augustus to the half of the 3rd century Rome has lost 4/5ths of its gold and 2/3rds of silver.) Foreign and domestic trade came to an effective halt, there was great uncertainty, followed by impoverishment and outright depopulation. Prices have risen ten to hundred times after Galienus.

[[Aurelian]] (270-275) was a very capable soldier, who succeeded in reuniting the Empire. He destroyed the kingdom of Queen [[Zenobia]], that included even Egypt, and brought the Gallic lands back into the fold. From the year 273 is known an uprising of the minters in Rome led by [[Felicissimus]], which hints at the size of inflation - 7000 soldiers fell, with estimated 40.000 minters taking part in the revolt. The cause may have been Aurelianus' reform of the currency. He has created a new coin (the name is uncertain, probably ''[[nummus]]'', later called by some pseudoantoninianus). It was described as "new silver", but it simply had a thin silver-coating, a silver content of just about 2%. The privileges of the Senate to make copper coins and the provincial rights were taken away. With these measures, the inflation was not stopped, but it was slowed down.<ref name="Gaettens_Roman" />

===Diocletian's reforms and decline of the empire===
In a more serious reform in 293, [[Diocletian]] introduced a new 5-denarius coin of fine silver, the ''[[argenteus]]'' (96 per pound). The gold coins have become rare and their weights so different, that they were only accepted for their weight. [[Carus]] or Carinus have set the weight of the aureus to 70 per pound, which Diocletian raised to 60 per pound of gold. In the same year was the Empire divided into four parts, ruled by co-emperors, the [[Tetrarchy]]. Around 295 AD was introduced a new copper coin, marked as the pseudoantoninianus, but weighing 10g.

Diocletian most probably released the binds between coins of various metals, which continued to fluctuate. Gold and silver started to circulate again, but the bronze coins were still credit coins and were soon devalued again. The relative peace of the time brought some degree of economic stability, but the prices continued to rise.<ref name="Gaettens_Roman" />

To limit the prices, Diocletian issued the [[Edict on Maximum Prices]] in 301. Justified by the avarice of merchants and hoarders, the prices of many goods and the wages of many workers were set to a fixed value. Death was the punishment for dealing at higher prices or hoarding, and much blood was shed in its cause. It is unknown how long it took, before the law was completely ignored, but in 305 Diocletian voluntarily abdicated, as the only Roman emperor on record; and the law was dead by then. The debasement continued.

In the years of chaos preceding Diocleatian's rule, trade has been reduced to barter and the middle class was almost obliterated. Since money was unreliable at best, he devised a system of payments in kind. This tax reform has bound the lower classes to the soil and made them effective serfs. The once free men suffered under the state and its taxes and "prayed that the barbarians would deliver them from it."<ref name="Schuettinger_Rome" /> When people tried to get out they were by law compelled to remain in the occupation that they were in. The occupations were made hereditary. These laws started by being restricted to the defense-oriented industries but, of course, gradually it was realized that everything is defense-oriented.

The peasantry, known as the ''[[Colonus|coloni]]'', were leaseholders on both imperial and private estates. They too were formerly a free class. Under the same pressures as all smallholders, they began to drift away, to find better opportunities, better leases, or better occupations. So under Diocletian the coloni were now bound to the soil. Anyone who had a lease on a particular piece of land could not give that lease up. More than that, they had to stay on the land and work it. In effect, this is the beginning of what in the Middle Ages is called [[serfdom]].

The silver currency was basically abandoned, so much that the government started to demand payment of taxes in kind and in services instead of coin. [[Constantine the Great]] issued the golden ''[[solidus]]'' in large numbers. The government moved away from collecting taxes and paying salaries in kind, and began to use gold. But taxes had to be paid in gold [[Wikipedia:Precious metal#Bullion|bullion]], as the government refused its own coins, since was never sure how adulterated the coinage really was. The inflation of lesser coins continued, even cities were free to make their own token coins. Most people had to buy gold coins to pay taxes with, those who couldn't afford it lost their lands or became delinquents. So there was a relatively stable 'gold standard' used by the growing number of soldiers and civil servants, and an increasingly worthless currency for the rest of the citizenry. A rapid decline of their fortunes and personal freedoms followed.<ref name="Peden_Inflation_Fall_of_Rome">Joseph R. Peden. [http://mises.org/story/3663 "Inflation and the Fall of the Roman Empire"], posted on 2009-09-07 in Mises Daily, referenced 2009-09-11.</ref>

The solidus weighed 4,55g of pure gold (72 per pound). For centuries, it was the only gold coin in Europe, it was the base coin for Germanic kingdoms of the [[Merovingian dynasty|Merovings]] and the [[Wikipedia:Byzantine Empire|Byzantine Empire]] continued to make it for a millenium. The new silver coin, the ''[[siliqua]]'', was a credit coin of variable weight. The copper coin, this time in bronze, was fully subject to devaluation. Both silver and bronze coins were probably weighed as a result in daily use. Diocletian's 5-denarius piece with 10g had by 311 only 4,4g, by 320 3,1g and 1,5g by 344. More attempts at reform followed, as huge finds of the period attest. Some of the bronze coins were still used at the beginning of the 19th century in southern France.<ref name="Gaettens_Roman" />

===Inflation in numbers===
The silver content in the denarius fell over the ages:

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" style="text-align:center; font-size:80%"
! Emperor
! Purity
|-
| Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD)
| about 97%
|-
| Nero (54 - 68)
| 90%
|-
| Trajan (98 - 117)
| 85%
|-
| Marcus Aurelius (161 - 180)
| 75%
|-
| Septimus Severus (193 - 211) and Caracalla (198 - 217)
| 50%
|-
| Traianus Decius (249 - 251)
| 40%
|-
| Gallienus (253 - 268)
| 20-25%
|-
| Aurelian (270 - 275)
| 2%
|}

The inflation is hard to document, but one good indicator are the payments a [[Roman legion]]ary would receive:

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5" style="text-align:center; font-size:80%"
! Emperor
! yearly pay in Denarii
|-
| Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD)
| 225
|-
| Domitian (81 - 96)
| 300
|-
| Commodus (176 - 192)
| 375
|-
| Septimus Severus (193 - 211)
| 500
|-
| Caracalla (198 - 217)
| 750
|}

The devaluation of silver money to a half has led to a similar increase in their wages. This doubling of prices over the course of a century is also documented for bread.<ref name="Gaettens_Roman" />

In Diocletian's time, in the year 301, he fixed the price at 50,000 denarii for one pound of gold. Ten years later it had risen to 120,000. In 324, 23 years after it was 50,000, it was 300,000. In 337, the year of Constantine's death, a pound of gold brought 20,000,000 denarii.

The army itself had grown from the time of Augustus, when they had about a 250,000 troops, to the time of Diocletian, when they had somewhat over 600,000. So the army had doubled in size in the course of this inflationary spiral, and obviously that contributed greatly to the inflation.<ref name="Peden_Inflation_Fall_of_Rome" />

==Roman banking==
Banking was highly developed and subject to [[Roman Law]], money deposits were to be safeguarded and not lent out. A specialty were banker associations or ''societates argentariae'', where members supplied capital to form them, but they had unlimited liability to prevent fraud. Most banks failed during the economic crises of the third and fourth centuries A.D.<ref name="De_Soto_Rome">Jesús Huerta de Soto. [http://mises.org/books/desoto.pdf "Money, Bank Credit, and Economic Cycles"]. 2. Historical Violations of the Legal Principles Governing the Monetary Irregular-Deposit Contract, p. 53-58, referenced 2009-10-29.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Links==
* [[Wikipedia:Ancient Rome|Ancient Rome]], [[Wikipedia:Roman currency|its currency]] and [[Wikipedia:Roman history|history]] on Wikipedia
* [http://mises.org/daily/4088 Big Business in Politics], February 2010 by H. J. Haskell
* [http://mises.org/daily/5578/Boom-and-Depression-in-Ancient-Rome Boom and Depression in Ancient Rome] from [http://mises.org/resources/3330/The-New-Deal-in-Old-Rome The New Deal in Old Rome], 1947, by H.J.Haskell

[[Category:History of Rome]]
[[Category:Inflations]]