Rome's Disastrous Price Control Policies

The idea of Price Controls and direct government intervention on the markets is back to the headlines! Is it a good idea? Maybe the Romans have some lessons to teach us.
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[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Would you like to support the channel and my work? Join my Patreon: www.patreon.com/classicalnumismatics Or maybe "Buy me a Coffee": www.buymeacoffee.com/classicalnumismatics Consider buying some channel Merch! You get a cool T-Shirt or Mug and you help me make more Ancient Numismatics content. Thank you! leob.creator-spring.com/

[@jessefisher1809]

Yeah price controls don't work because people find a way around them. But finding that way around usually costs money/time. Thats why I still support the price cap on Russian oil. It still hurts them financially.

[@JoshuaRed-v4f]

So is this first half of this to create the narrative that price gouging is a scape goat when for inflation when it's a cause for inflation?

[@jessefisher1809]

@@JoshuaRed-v4f .... what?

[@thejohnbeck]

hi, what books did you read to gain this knowledge?

[@pleasestandby5954]

I guess at least Diocletian didn't have reams of historical examples for why price controls are a bad idea. Modern politicians have no excuse

[@moneroai]

exactly

[@Handheld.History_Shop]

Yes, but the same people against price controls based on historical precedent will argue we all just need an asset-backed currency when that never works due to liquidity crunches and recessions.

[@UnexpectedWonder]

​@@Handheld.History_Shop I understand your Perspective.

[@EroticOnion23]

"We'll get it right this time!!"... 😅

[@jaylenvesi8859]

@pleasestandby5954 The Ancient Greeks had command economics. They are also thought to have had enough economic and philosophical development that they even discovered Communism before Marx, in a time when societies were generally command economies. The civil wars that would come about as a result of the 'class wars' tore through their society. Not a lot of details is known of what really occured during this time, the era formally known as the Axial Age, but one might presume it was similar with the land reforms controversies that came about in Rome that resulted in civil wars. In Ancient Rome's case, the Aristocracy monopolised the farms because they had more slaves than the lower classes. With more labourers and capital, they could outcompete other farms and buy up smaller properties that were not keeping up economically. Thus, many native Romans lost their lands and had to migrate to the cities to survive among its urban population or find service in the legions. The land reforms that were proposed by Gaius Julius Caesar was particularly well received by this growing class of Romans who were likely feeling disenfranchised with the current economic situation and Rome fell into civil wars over the end of the Roman Republic. The thing is that the Romans shared many aspects with the Greek civilisation, like the massive slavery that was present in Ancient Greece. The command economics was already mentioned as well as varying degrees of engagement among women in aspects of society. The Republics of the Ancient world are not so close to the modern Republics in our day, seeing as we omit details to appear as though they could fit in with our brand of progressivism. My point is that Diocletian may have had some records in his time with historical examples of price controls. The command economies were not new by his age, as I said, although I'm not so sure how close the Roman and Greek examples were. I know the Greeks had a colonial empire, but how well did that translate to payment of their militaries. The example I put fourth is the Roman currency that was paid to Germanic foederati by the Roman state that disappeared from the economy since the Germans would spend it in their own closed off communities, like all the money that is sent to foreign countries every year by immigrants who come for work. In my country, Australia, there are some suburbs in my city where certain ethnic groups have congregated to form what is essentially a closed off communty, where money is harder to circulate since people will buy from their own communities. The Roman government would either increase the supply of currency by ramping production, minting coins, and issue decrees on the prices of certain goods, to name a few. In either end of it, the Romans took much of what they could from the societies that they conquered, even more so in Ancient Greece, and so, I consider their lack of creativity and the logical extension for having had so much of Roman society, having ran with the assumptions of societies who were in a weakened state to be conquered, like the Greeks becoming so nihilistic as their civilisation floundered to the point of no self preservation from having been conquered by Romans; in a way, I think the Romans suffered from taking what they could from others and pushing them to their logical conclusions. Need I say, there might be something wrong with adopting certain aspects of a society you have conquered if said society has been weakened enough, potentially, as a result of some flaw within the core of that society. A flaw which could then find it's way into your own society, and cause your society to fall to foreign invaders and civil wars.

[@compatriot852]

It's astonishing seeing our civilization repeating the exact same failures of antiquity

[@cougar2013]

Thank people for collectively giving into their vices! Craft beer is a hobby, not alcoholism! 😂

[@doodlegassum6959]

They tried to warn us

[@brokenworld94]

Human beings don't learn lessons in a collective sense very well, and when they do, those lessons are lost after several generations. History is basically the same clown humans making the same clown mistakes, over and over again.

[@FourFistsdown]

Not a mistake… they know what they are doing…

[@markrademaker5875]

There's nothing new under the sun. The Holy Bible

[@ickster23]

Every generation thinks they are immune from the mistakes of the past. That's just human nature, although a painful aspect of that nature.

[@cougar2013]

True, but that doesn’t mean that all generations are equal!

[@schutzanzug6731]

Price control is a must. Unregulated capitalism is why you are seeing small snickers bars at gas stations sell for $3.99

[@ickster23]

@@schutzanzug6731 "Unregulated capitalism". I would point out that we don't have unregulated capitalism. In fact, capitalism lasted a few weeks before becoming heavily regulated at behest of those with powerful connections. This leads us to were we have had crony capitalism which is now morphing into an NSDAP economic model of socialism married to corporatism. Price controls mean shortages. Telling someone they have to sell at a loss means they will just stopping selling those items, especially when options to meet those imposed prices are blocked by other ideological regulations. History illustrates this fact. Have you studied the cost breakdown per unit for the chocolate bar you mention so as to understand why the price is what it is? Without that knowledge, your statement is just an emotional response to a "feeling" that the price is too high.

[@schutzanzug6731]

@@ickster23 I never said that anyone needs to sell at a loss. That’s completely stupid. Your more stupid, as your making up arguments on my behalf. In the sense on consumer, it is unregulated capitalism where any producer on the market sells their products at whatever the price regardless of the actual price. It isn’t just a “feeling”. You can look at items sold per ounce. For a specific brand of spicy chips I saw yesterday, it was sold for 50+ dollars an ounce. You can literally buy 1.5 1oz silver bars for that. Coated tortilla chips are being sold the more then it’s weight in SILVER. That is criminal.

[@simonpetrikov3992]

@@schutzanzug6731even though price controls don’t work because it directly interferes with supply and demand. Prices are a signal to producers whether or not to produce more or produce less and without it you can risk having shortages. To say that this is not true is to say that one of the fundamental principles that allows market economies to exist is not true is to render capitalism nothing more than a lie to justify the economic elite’s own power Note: you should also learn about the Subjective theory of Value because it’s important to learn that there’s no objective way to determine the value of something.

[@PsychoAlfaSchizo]

Before 1965, American dimes, quarters and half dollars were 90% silver.

[@RealLifeFinance]

Yup and in 72 we went off gold standard = currency printing. Inflation in the 50s and 60s was 1%-3%. Since 1972 prices are up 15x +/-. Next round that started in 2020 is going to be even worse.

[@Gen-X-Memories]

​@@RealLifeFinance I guess when that happened that gave them free reign with the printing press.

[@HateBear-real]

Open border BS started in 1965 as well

[@curtdevere1891]

Holy cow! This video should be required viewing by every voter, politician, elected official and bureaucrat!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I'd greatly appreciate if you shared it! :)

[@_Circus_Clapped_]

only by democrats who seem to be the most uninformed on this

[@belthesheep3550]

How did inflation come about in ancient times? Currency debasement. How does inflation come about in modern times? Currency debasement. Inflation is always and at all times a monetary phenomenon.

[@andrewpatton5114]

No, sometimes inflation is the result of destruction of the real productive capacity due to war or other emergency. The Japanese Yen didn’t lose 99.5% of its value during WWII because the government issued 200 times as much currency, but rather because 10% of the workforce was killed and most of the factories were bombed into rubble.

[@RealLifeFinance]

​@@andrewpatton5114Very True but not including rare and one off events over the long run its caused by monetary debasement.

[@jaydwy8069]

​@@RealLifeFinancewell, who keeps debasing the currency? Is this why people keep saying its a certain group of money changers?

[@someopinion922]

@@RealLifeFinance The importation of large groups of idiots is a one off events, its results are not. Population IQ debasement.

[@isabelcrb]

Brilliant as always! Diocletian is a great example of how every Emperor's reign is a "shade of gray" as far as food and bad policies go. He propped the Empire up for another two centuries, but he certainly condemned a lot of people to some pretty horrible lives

[@nelsonr1467]

@@isabelcrb are talking about the Christian persecution?

[@caracallaavg]

Another example is his mandate on inheritance of professions

[@boozecruiser]

He propped up the empire for centuries, the same empire that caused suffering to the majority living under it

[@Thurnmourer]

​@@nelsonr1467pretty sure he was the emperor who invented serfdom in the Mediterranean area. That might be what they're on about.

[@DJ_Force]

That "greedflation" speech could have come right out of the 2024 political campaign.

[@brainkill7034]

Russell Napier says that the knowledge of science is cumulative, but the knowledge of finance is cyclical. Sad but true. Excellent presentation as always, thank you so much for sharing!

[@brainkill7034]

P.S. Russell Napier runs the Library of Mistakes, a library dedicated to finance and economics. They also have a KZbin channel with some very insightful presentations, I highly recommend.

[@neptunesmarsh]

Whether the late third century, or the early 21st century, it's funny how "price gouging" tends to manifest in times of great inflation... I'm not saying merchants do not capitalize on government mismanagement, but the State has as much incentive to shift blame for poor choices, perhaps moreso since they have an army at their command... It has me wondering, though, if there were certain wealthy merchants in a particular province or just an area of a province, where they could bribe or "lobby" a government official for exemption from the edict...

[@nelsonr1467]

@neptunesmarsh obviously, they would have done that. It's in their nature, much like the modern merchants (capitalists) use loop holes in the laws, preventing them from paying taxes and such.

[@belthesheep3550]

@@nelsonr1467 I must point out, as obvious as it is, that a capitalist is not a "modern merchant". A capitalist is a man who owns capital. This is all. I myself, owning farmland, am a capitalist because it is a form of capital under my possession. There is no unfair political lobbying where the state has no power to grant favors to those who would seek them. The solution here is not to deride everyone with ample capital because of those with scarce scruples, but to instead subject them to the same competition as everyone else, as without the coercive power of the state the only civil manner of earning capital is through providing value to society, and thus even the most evil businessman will see himself forced to do so.

[@MarquiseKendrid]

​@@belthesheep3550no they wont because if that was the case why are all corporations inflating prices well beyond the worth of said item a candy bar is not worth $4 ever period point blank

[@belthesheep3550]

@@MarquiseKendrid When there are trillions upon trillions of dollars in circulation it is surprising a candy bar isn't $50.

[@RealLifeFinance]

Panera in Cali did this to avoid min wage laws

[@twelch12]

The closest we've had to price controls working was war-time rationing during WWII and the set of circumstances that allowed that to be moderately successful simply aren't replicable long-term during peace time.

[@Treblaine]

It wasn't price controls it was a dual currency system. Prices could be whatever the seller wanted, it's just two currencies had to line up. This secondary currency was effectively a new scarce fiat currency to compensate for how there was an inflated fiat "main currency". For the UK at least rationing was not "x pounds per week" that's a lie perpetuated by the school system. It was not a fixed nominal amount per mass, volume or anything. You had rations that were effectively currency. If you wanted to buy 10 pennies worth of butter you needed to hand over 10 pennies of "real money" and ALSO hand over 10 "pennies" of "ration cards". Or update the ration ledger or equivalent.

[@josephmcmahon7339]

every time I see price controls mentioned online I simply comment *Diocletian has entered the chat*

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Diocletian has entered the chat and picked up a huge sword

[@milztempelrowski9281]

At least the romans didn't have the FED. Otherwise the planets surface would be buried in coins by now :p

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

You are right, but they still tried their best. The largest roman hoards ever discovered are from the third-fourth centuries, and the number of coins is astonishing

[@rwewrrwrwer4310]

The Romans!! heck just ask any Argentine older than 40!!!

[@christopherevans2445]

God forbid are leaders looking to the past for answers. The world might actually have real leaders to look up to

[@shawnangie1]

You could write "D" on a glass of lemonade and fools would vote for it. They vote blue no matter who.

[@philwardle7369]

Part of the problem with the coinage was that, not only were the precious metal mines failing, but that Rome's trade with the east, especially India was one sided. Rome had little the east was prepared to buy (as they could produce it themselves for less) so they demanded payment in silver and gold coins, which over the centuries led to a shortfall in the empire.

[@jasonaris5316]

The same happened in the 19th century between Great Britain and Imperial China China only wanted silver for its exports especially tea. Britain was literally running out of silver. The solution, Opium, and they ended up going to war to force China to take that this instead of hard money

[@Numischannel]

Excellent presentation Leo! Price controls may work only as a temporary measure in connection with a monetary reform, but not as a permanent feature of monetary policy. Licinius' reform in 321 was successfull in reducing inflation (as recorded prices for a gold aureus in Egyptian papirii witness a fall in the period 321-24) but it may have caused tremendous recession and loss of popularity. Constantine took the gold stored for centuries in the temples to introduce the solidus, however he conducted an expansive monetary policy and his rate of inflation was waaaay higher than that under Diocletian!

[@g.r.2110]

This channel is so good is unbelievable. Not only gives numismatic knowledge, but also great historical knowledge too while also maintaining a really good edition. As an story fan, this channel is a great discovery.

[@neptunesmarsh]

Perhaps we can forgive Diocletian a bit for his grand, but short-sighted endeavor in price control, as it was (really) the first time in history such a thing had been done, and in thorough detail, but there are no excuses after that, other than, "It wasn't implemented properly! We'll get it right this time!" Thanks to Diocletian, though, for giving future numismatists something to acquire on a tight budget!

[@SneedSeeding]

No it wasn't the first time in history lol. Sumer did it millennia before Diocletian did.

[@neptunesmarsh]

@SneedSeeding As far as the Romans were concerned, it was the first time, and Diocletians's edict is far better known

[@SneedSeeding]

@@neptunesmarsh Diocletian's edict on prices failed, Sumer setting static exchange rates and interest helped build their civilization. It's an important difference I think.

[@nathanmagnuson2589]

@@SneedSeeding formerly chucks

[@tomasrocha6139]

There are price controls in the Code of Hammurabi

[@Calu114]

History repeats itself, that is why it is important to learn history !

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

If History doesnt repeat itself, it at least rhymes!

[@JoshuaRed-v4f]

​@@ClassicalNumismaticsit doesn't repeat itself. It does rhyme sometimes. But cyclical theory is a load of bull

[@EroticOnion23]

@@JoshuaRed-v4f cyclical history has been proven, if you studied history...base human nature haven't changed for a literal million years...

[@leonardodtc4847]

I instantly remembered Diocletian when Kamala said she would control the market.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Having grown up in Latin America, Ive heard that kind of stuff sooo many times.

[@Gumardee_coins_and_banknotes]

I think of Communism.

[@leonardodtc4847]

@@ClassicalNumismatics It simply doesn’t work, but sure as hell buys the idiot’s vote.

[@RealLifeFinance]

​@@ClassicalNumismaticsWhere did u grow up?

[@shellshockedgerman3947]

​@@ClassicalNumismatics Idk man, asking a Latin American about how an economy and finances should run would go as well as asking a German for a good joke.

[@bil_G74]

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” - George Santayana,

[@jonkayl9416]

I am also thinking of the parallels of all the QE money created in Covid by the ECB, BOE and the Fed. Just when the supply of goods restricted. What do you get? Inflation! And the QE Money does not stay in the Banking system, its why house prices are so high. Banks have been pushing moeny into property since the middle 1990s and ended with the financial crash of 2008 that we never recovered from.

[@astralclub5964]

I doubt Harris has studied Roman history! I thought of Diocletian and Nixon as soon as I heard her ridiculous price control proposals.

[@boozecruiser]

She studied law. To be fair, you can study economics and come up with awful, outlandish conclusions. Look at Thomas Sowell

[@richardlindquist5936]

@boozecruiser Sowell makes a lot of sense. What don’t you like? Thx

[@boozecruiser]

@@richardlindquist5936 It's not about disliking him, he's wrong about most of his conclusions. He's an ANCAP who thinks that capitalism without a government is the supreme economic system, when it would essentially be feudalism but worse. That's not even taking into account the fact that capitalism couldn't survive without being enforced by militaries and law enforcement agencies

[@boozecruiser]

@@richardlindquist5936 He wants us to be paid less and work in unsafer conditions. Unlearning Economics probably has the best documentary on Sowell on this entire website.

[@DsCoinsNCollectibles]

Congrats again on 25k! Im loving all these videos!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thank you very much! ♥

[@213thAIB]

Thank you for this timely and insightful analysis.

[@birdshotbill]

Great video, really enjoyed the visual elements and the parallels your draw with a modern context.

[@ukeplaya1]

Excellent video! I wish all politicians had to pass a history exam as a pre-requisite to run for office.

[@KyllisAugustus]

Dude lol....Diocletian was my immediate thought when i heard Harris say that😂😂😂

[@Icarus4002]

Diocletian is still one of my favorite emperor regardless that he failed. He's given brownie points for effort, that's all that matters; he tried his best.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

He's still a key figure in Roman history, and his reign a pivotal moment in western history

[@EroticOnion23]

He created serfdom...

[@mihaipalimariciuc6635]

I really like your economic history videos. Keep it up 👍

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thank you! I plan on making more content like this in the future

[@obscurehistory1]

Overall I would say Diocletian meant well with most of his policies. He should have taken a page out of Domitians book when it came to inflation!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Hell is definitely full of good intentions

[@schutzanzug6731]

@@ClassicalNumismaticsdon’t compare price control with hell. That is completely ridiculous. Oh how hellish it must be to cut the profits the the middlemen. How hellish it must be to cut profits and have consumers buy produce at its real price. In California, there multiple countries which practice price control. Specifically during emergencies, penal code 369. When implemented, why don’t we see large scale market collapses like we did in the Roman Empire? Simply the two are completely incomparable since the Roman politics was largely disconnected from reality and they didn’t actually have much authority of the territory they claim.

[@CatsMeowPaw]

I sell collectables on eBay. No matter how much anyone tries, I won't sell items at a loss. I'll simply pull them all off the market.

[@truxton1000]

Well you are in a fortunate position then that you don’t need the money, if you did you would have to accept the market price.

[@nathanmagnuson2589]

Do you have a large catalogue of items that didn't sell then? How can you afford this practice?

[@truxton1000]

​@@nathanmagnuson2589 I guess the question about “if he can afford it” depends on how much income he got, how much money he got, how much money he needs etc etc so I totally understand that people can “afford to not take a loss”, as they can put these things aside for maybe 5-10 years and try again. Often then prices on certain items could well have increased, often more than the inflation depending on what becomes more collectible /popular.

[@abyssalAnalyst]

​​​@@truxton1000, quite the opposite: people go off market exactly because they need money! Selling something at a loss means LOSING money. For exapmle (I'll ovesimplify), your place on a market costs $40 for a month. This includes everything that you need to actually start selling your stuff. Out of thin air, you have 4 pieces of something. You place a generous tag of $11 for each of them, hoping that, by the end of the month, you'll sell all 4, and get $4 as income (this is a stupid marketing strategy, but nevertheless, you have a chance). All over sudden, your government calls you a greedy bastard and forbids you to sell this stuff for anything more than $9. Let's pretend we live in an Equestrian miracle disneyworld, and your place on the market still costs the same $40, and does not become more expensive. What would you do? Pay the same $40 for a chance to earn $36 back? That's what selling at a loss essentially is. As you've said, "if you need the money, just accept the market price". Nobody will accept an inadequate market price, because, if the set price is unrealistic, nobody CAN do it. Physically. Can. Not. Capisci?

[@Czarwren]

You will only get what someone is willing to pay for it

[@cougar2013]

So glad this channel is on the correct side of things 😎✌️❤️

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Im on the side of sound money!

[@MPLS_Andy]

Great video as always. Im always excited when I see a new one so keep them coming!!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

As long as there's people supporting the channel and watching it, here I'll be making content to numismatists and history lovers :)

[@ilikethiskindatube]

When privately, well educated politicians keep doing the same things that have damaged society for thousands of years the main question is who benefits from these ideas

[@matthewlynch5496]

Roman currency was commodity backed (silver) whereas many industrial economies today use fiat currency (not commodity backed) meaning money supply can be controlled via printing or mass destruction of bank notes. Money supply does need to be controlled, yes, but unlike the romans, who couldn't just destroy silver to take it out of circulation, economies such as the US could destroy a mass of bank notes, were they to come flooding back to domestic markets from foreign reserve holdings. This was a big threat when BRICS was talking about launching a gold backed currency to circumvent the dollar in the petroleum trade, and possibly other sectors afterward. Domestic markets would be impacted by money supply being increased by the previously stated flood from foreign holdings, but those dollars could be physically destroyed to be removed from the economy entirely. A period of instability can be tamed through the calculated destruction of X amount of currency. No loss of value occurs because the fiat has no physical backing, unlike the Roman Denarius. Rome likely had bank notes (or more precisely, IOUs for an amount of silver) but their destruction was meaningless because they only represented an amount of value in silver. The dollar doesn't play by the same ruleset as a commodity backed currency. Price control can subsidize the cost of a commodity by supplanting surplus value taken from other sectors of industry. For example, if my hypothetical country produces much more oil than my domestic market demands, i can export the surplus and with a portion of the value gained from its export i can develop the water treatment sector while also controlling the price of water. I can continue to do this, driving down the cost of water by increasing its supply via my own state control, until the water is produced in abundance (i.e. significantly more than demand requires.) Is the market the one who decides how valuable something is, or do people decide that? The water is clearly of Value to everyone who uses it, but the market, in this scenario of abundance, considers the water valueless because it cannot be exchanged for anything anymore. The point of economics, however, is to provide as much for as many as possible, not to make the most profits or to live subject to market forces that we ourselves created in the first place. The abundance of water in this scenario is a good development, not a bad one, as the market would lead you to believe.

[@arnoldshmitt4969]

HUH sure do raise some good points , since most of usa dollars only exist as a number on a computer , real printed money is just a fraction of the digital amount of money currently circulating in the digital world.

[@jasonparr4275]

Great stuff buddy, as usual!! Cheers from Qld, Australia!!

[@SR-kn1wq]

Great video Leo. A much needed historical warning for us moderns.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thank you! I dont pretend to have the answers to today's problems, but hopefully my history lesson helps us build a better solution

[@Icarus4002]

It's honestly amazing how nobody ever learn from the past, legitimately history is an echo of the past bound to repeat in the future to come. I wonder if games like Total War Atila was purposely terribly made on purpose to discourage the general population from being educated about their past. You don't have to be smart-ass to look at the Roman Empire, and see a precise echo of it happening all over again. China's dynasty is another good example, there's a lot to be learned.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Apparently Atilla TW was meant to be an expansion of Rome 2 TW, and they decided to make a separate game instead, with few human resources dedicated to its development, hence the crap final state.

[@linming5610]

​@@ClassicalNumismatics they got lazy thinking they can release an expansion and price it as a full game. Well, the market decided no, and they abandoned it quickly.

[@professorhaystacks6606]

14:00: So 3 Aurei (...my latin is rusty, I hope that's the right plural) buys you a lion first class? What a steal!

[@leemansius6078]

Important message at an important time

[@briancisco1176]

Thanks for a fascinating economics lesson!

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed it

[@milanstepanek4185]

10:05 two goddamn millenia and our politicians say the EXACT same thing

[@therealCelticViking]

Excellent video Leo, one of my favourites thus far. Every modern politician should see this 😊.

[@vdanger7669]

Truly unburdened by what has been.

[@سلمانالحريي-ز2ظ]

“ Those who don’t read history are doomed to repeat it ”

[@anseladams5634]

New subscriber, I love your channel!!!

[@midsouthirish1680]

I try and imagine how the Roman’s would of treated all the worthless advertisements and commercials had they been subjected to them😅😮Wonderful video sir!

[@andrewpatton5114]

Please. Roman gladiators had endorsement deals. If they managed to survive the arena, they could retire fairly wealthy.

[@TheTaurus454]

Very informative and enjoyable to watch, thank you 😊

[@auslatino8944]

Diocletian's Edicts are the birth of serfdom

[@miguelderijckke5907]

A form of internal slavery instead of imported one? In which layers of population was gold an allowed transactional tool?

[@hardstylelife5749]

Nice video, thanks for sharing it

[@marksutton5540]

That was beautiful! You should explain the gold/silver exchange between East and West in Medieval period.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Thats a fascinating, but very complex topic. One day :)

[@PhilipDarragh]

Everyone shd read the book "Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls." It documents the damage tt wage & price ctrls do 2A nation, and its economy.

[@ChristopherSekulich]

Sounds like illegal Executive order in1878 1913 1933 1971 cough😮😢

[@69pepe420]

i just want to scream when our leaders say dumb stuff like this -- HAVE WE LEARNED NOTHING?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

"Its so over, chuds!"

[@ValidatingUsername]

No government should ever control an upper bound on anything but a reasonable tax and subsidy of competition or to investigate attempts to crush competition should be utilized.

[@richardlindquist5936]

Excellent presentation!

[@Muljinn]

…. Shades of Jaghmeet Singh. Why am I not surprised?

[@richardlindquist5936]

16:50. An actual description of what we describe today as fascism.

[@milo-qh7cv]

yep same as the democrats in usa, liberals in canada, and socialist/communist parties in europe and australia

[@clarke4552]

Been waiting in you for a video like this.

[@nelsonr1467]

Based on the portraits on your coins and the solidus, Dioceltian seemed like he was handsome dude

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

By his time, portraiture on coins was very schematic, and didnt really represent how the Emperor looked like. Look at coins of Diocletian struck at different mints, and he looks completely different :)

[@hasashoepugower1691]

He seams abit like Augustus who’s much more successful coinage reform is what lead to what many of us collect he also changed the government to make some sensible changes though offen abit too heavy handed if he had been abit more liberal in his approach it might have worked somewhat better Greshams law definitely played a big part in why his nummus reform failed as it had more sliver by total weight but the low quality coins from say Claud could still be used and thus drove out this new -good- money a problem aurlean also faced it is sad to see how close they offen came to possibly restoring the coins to stability but history is not always a tale of good and evil and they didnet have the hindsight we can use today

[@Kyrgizion]

I think we collectors also owe him big time because the old coins stopped circulating and got hoarded thanks to his reforms. In another timeline, most of them would've been melted down and recycled.

[@shockcat5988]

It’ll get even more interesting whenever they freeze people in their professions.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

If it gets to that point, things will heat up 👀🔥

[@ChosenSquirrel]

I think if they didn't cement peoples possitions and cause inflation they could have had a better economy and been able to afford more things... Maybe even had a industrial revolution. So with the policy described in the video he was economically really really bad

[@BennyBunghole-tk7ts]

All we need to do is elect Leo.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Fortunately Im not enough of a psychopath to thrive in politics 😂

[@heavymetalcoins]

Beautiful video. 👏👏👏 Hope some of our stupid politicians sees it😂

[@GordonGrant-o1h]

Brilliant again thx Leo😊

[@richardlindquist5936]

I wish people would actually listen to the podcast before commenting. 😐

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

This video was bound to attract people with extreme views on economics, and these people generally arent willing to engage in civil discussion. Thats just a thing of our times.

[@zenmasterjack3873]

10:00 so Diocletian got so frustrated he became a communist? Lol

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Maybe he was always a commie by heart

[@PhilipDarragh]

Great channel. I recommend U do a video explaining inflation, bcz most people do not U/stand hw inflation occurs, and the damage it does 2 an economy. When still in high-school, we studied the "Great Inflation" tt took place in Germany in the 1920s. A similar inflation took place in Mozambique, formally known as Rhodesia, under the dictator "Robert Mugabe."😊

[@brute9867]

Great video!

[@Truth_above_everything]

History+economics. My favourite!

[@MbisonBalrog]

Does runaway fiat currency with no end to creation of more currency at a rapid pace ever work either ?

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

No it does not! 😃

[@Pound_Shift]

Neither will an “electronic coin” but they will try and make you believe it does to keep their scam alive

[@Czarwren]

Adam Smith all money is belief

[@HateBear-real]

According to feminists who would post at crystal cafe, knowing about history, caring about it, or liking it is "racist." Read it for yourself.

[@michaelmiller5600]

The law of supply and demand will always overwhelm the mandates of men in government. A command economy always results in some degree of scarcity/rationing of the things people want and need, and a surplus of things people do not want or need. It was true then and its true now.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Maybe one day, we will have computers capable of such complex simulations, and these simulations will be capable of accounting for so many variables that might correctly account for the chaotic nature of human consumer desires. Maybe, one day. But today is not that day.

[@chrisconway9959]

What a great episode

[@Kyrgizion]

Quick question, sorry if it's already been asked or answered: the high res stills of the coins you use, like the many Diocletian coins in this video, did you take them yourself or do you source them elsewhere? And if you take them yourself, what gear and/or process do you use? I want to photograph all my own coins with a macro lens but I'm having issues getting everything in decent focus. Also loled @ god emperor of inflation.

[@carolynedunsford6582]

very few people who take control of govts are intelligent and humble they believe that they are invincible hence the same errors Solomon was the greatest example

[@markp44288]

Based AF. Great video.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Based and Inflationpilled

[@Tomi-sc7dv]

Good video bro

[@theeccentrictripper3863]

2:07 Needlessly? Really taking sides there lol Spectacular video, I imagine the reflexive technocratic response would be, "But we CAN control things now, we have X, Y, Z to monitor the market and respond quickly to it" but nothing about the principles behind the exchange of goods/services and supply & demand have changed between then and now, if anything being able to command the economy quicker will only accelerate and exacerbate the kinds of problems they faced in Diocletian's time. Even nations like the PRC where they have a command economy and a Party official sitting on every company board they can't control the economy and have caused major flubs in their system. Price controls: Not even once. Stay in school kids, learn economics.

[@linming5610]

They work if the cause of price skyrocketing is artificial disturbance or it would eventually settle down. But naturally? Law of demand and supply still works. No need for govt intervention. Actually, govt should leave it alone because the market is just evolving/adapting.

[@lowbloodprsure]

Its worse now, back then you couldn't print money, physically or digitally as fast as now.

[@markt7291]

Maybe Biden Kamala Obama should read history.

[@EroticOnion23]

Too busy heels-up...😅

[@Czarwren]

Trump is no better

[@CrunchyNorbert]

he could have made it easier to be a merchant to increase competition

[@bitbucketcynic]

Human nature does not change.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

It does not, and people seem to have a pretty hard time accepting it.

[@Josuke8Man]

So true

[@colin3424]

Wait are you seriously suggesting the people in charge can't just create more money whenever they need to pay for something with no negative consequences? You must be a Right Wing Conspiracy theorist!

[@the_forbinproject2777]

first class lion would probably be a Barbary lion as it was larger than it cousin the African lion.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Interesting!

[@Happycamper10]

The price he said a gold coin was is what it is now exactly lol 2590

[@paulmicelli5819]

Somebody tell Kamala

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

OH BOY!!! If America is now at Diocleation, that means soon enough its time for Constanitnius & then Constantine the Great, I mean it will be interesting,

[@Czarwren]

More like a white minority best run back to Europe

[@pedrojosegil429]

The creator of the feudal system

[@roberthudson3386]

An historical example of price controls working can be found in medieval England. The state, even with the limits of 13th century technology, managed to implement a system of regulating the quality of bread and ale and fixing the price. This did not crash the economy or prove to be unworkable. Although there were problems, such as bakers and brewers attempting to adulterate the food and drink, there is no reason to believe these issues would not have arisen without the regulations, since in an unregulated market economy greedy people will always look to cheat or rip off their customers to maximise their profits.

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Medieval england was also one of the European kingdoms that kept the quality of its coinage the longest, issuing high quality, regular weight coins for centuries, with remarkably low inflation as a result. I think you are mixing up an early version of food quality regulations with price controls. We are comparing apples to oranges here.

[@roberthudson3386]

@@ClassicalNumismatics No, I'm not mixing food quality regulations with price controls. Bread and ale were regulated both for quality and price under the Assize of Bread. Direct quote follows from Ian Mortimaer's book, the Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England (highly recommended). "Ale must be sold to the citizens of the borough, and that the price is to be three gallons of small ale for 1d." - Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England, pp. 229

[@arthur-yq4ic]

poor "second class"lions

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

Probably just some obese, bad-tempered large orange cat with a wig.

[@arthur-yq4ic]

@@ClassicalNumismatics 🤣

[@chris0000924]

The more thingchange the more they stay the same

[@rickmiles5297]

Tell harris