When it REALLY Began - BankWars: Weimar Hyperinflation Episode 1

[@TheImperatorKnight]

Some have asked, so just to confirm, this is Episode 1 of a series on the Weimar Hyperinflation. This video covers the period from the pre-war to 1918, and the rest of the series will go from 1918 to 1923 (and beyond). Once I've done the Weimar Hyperinflation, I will do more on other economic topics, which is why I've called it "BankWars".

[@mikaelarkanghel5094]

Bankster Wars‼️

[@nikolairostov3326]

Perfect timing, I just started studying economics.

[@QuizmasterLaw]

fiat currency is money. Money is defined by state power as a medium of exchange. It might be a money you hate, but it is one because it is a medium of exchange defined as such by state power. You might want to read what Aristotle and Plato have to say about money...

[@TheImperatorKnight]

@@QuizmasterLaw "Money is defined by state power as a medium of exchange." Money existed before governments did. Money is commodities traded as a means of exchange. Currency is what fiat is. Fiat is not a money.

[@2ndTimPlayground]

god, i love tik! every new vid is a cookie and a guarantied good evening!

[@assassinsrequiem]

“Gold is the money of kings, silver is the money of gentlemen, barter is the money of peasants - but debt is the money of slaves.” - Norm Franz

[@elLooto]

That can be finished with "And when debt is created by government, the people become slaves"

[@assassinsrequiem]

@@elLooto debt isn't created by the government, it's created by the central bank who is in control of the finances of the country. The Federal Reserve prints out whatever money it needs & charges the government interest on it. The United States owes nearly $30T to the Federal Reserve, a privately-owned bank entity.

[@elLooto]

@@assassinsrequiem Youre not wrong. Currency is created by loaning it into existence, as a consequence of the E = A - L double entry bookkeeping/accounting formula. The debtor (whether government, business, homeowners, or credit cards et al) is required to create the currency, not just the bank in question. As a further consequence, currency is destroyed by paying the principle of a debt. This is why government cannot pay off its debts; it would destroy the currency base that is the foundation of the private lending (ie home and business loans) credit markets, which is to say every dollar/mark/euro/ruble/yuan/whatever in circulation. The difference between government and the others mentioned, is the government absolutely knows of this relationship, since they create the legislation required to create the central bank that 'buys' their bonds in the first place. This is irrespective of whether the central bank is "private" or "public." This is why public debt is never repaid (just go to your local central bank website to see the graph of public debt with its positive slope almost without exception over the last century or so), and as a result we are still paying interest on debt created for (eg) WW1, over a century ago. Central banking creates lifelong debt slavery. This is why socialists have no problem with, and actively advocate for, central banking. I might have an economics degree, with a specialty in taxation (and its history) ;)

[@assassinsrequiem]

@@elLooto yeah, they know the relationship of the debt, but government did not create the central banks. Government was bought by the central banks, then laws & institutions were installed by the dark money to create this system of oppression to which they can control the flow & value of currency. There is a video (cartoonish) made to describe how old money created fiat currency & control nearly all the government in the world (save for Cuba, Iran, and North Korea). Before 2000, there were 6 counties that did not have a central bank, they included Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan as well... guess who the U.S. went to conflict/war with after 2000? kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3qsaoGQbbKAjK8

[@michelangelowahle6151]

not true - anyone with money doesn't worry or even think about money - much. that's peasant work. that's the point.

[@intranext1359]

This series looks more interesting than the whole of Netflix. TIK you deserve every penny you get. Thanks for educating me in economics and politics.

[@f__kyoudegenerates]

Netflix is terrible.

[@intranext1359]

@@f__kyoudegenerates Agreed

[@MarkVrem]

Yup, good quality stuff. Might have to watch 2 or 3 times and take notes too lol.

[@shangri-la-la-la]

Payment in gold not Fiat please.

[@elLooto]

But without Netflix, where would I go for CP?

[@KK-ot3pt]

the only gold standard right now is the quality of your productions. keep up the good work

[@TheImperatorKnight]

Wow, thanks!

[@chrisvowell2890]

Beautiful comment - and so true!

[@clairfayne]

#BuyCrypto

[@davedoe6445]

@@TheImperatorKnight Stick to Banks!!

[@benevolentnick1]

@@TheImperatorKnight BRAVO. Knew you could do it. Keep using your words. They are so important. Stay safe.

[@purple.feelings]

I am totally obsessed with your content. You've taught me, in the most professional way, things I didn't even know I needed to know. You've provided new pieces to a puzzle I thought was already complete. It's bittersweet, to say the least.

[@liquidsnake6879]

TIK just puts out an entire thesis every single video and it's some of the best researched stuff out there putting professors to shame. Outstanding work and dedication

[@khankrum1]

Try " Mars Bars Economics" @ Pensioner Prepper

[@maximpact4070]

Very refreshing to not only see military history videos on KZbin but also economic and videos about society at the time

[@snagletoothscott3729]

One point missed, but insignificant to the larger point TiK is making, is that why Gold even became the standard. It's not, as the author he quoted said "because it's shiny and people like to make jewelry out of it" but because it has 0 loss. In ancient times it was one of only a couple known materials that could retain it's full weight, hence it's value, over time. No matter how many times you remelt it it remains the same. It does not rust or decay. Yes there were gems that also have 0 decay, but you cant melt it combine it with other gold and use it. Once you chip a diamond, it's always chipped. We now have "rare earth minerals' of which some of these newly discovered materials also have similar qualities, but to the ancients it was primarily gold. Silver also has and has been used in certain nations instead of gold, but because of it's abundance, doesn't have international value for trade that gold does. Nor does it have as many actual uses because simply a value holder. 0 loss is somewhat of a misnomer. Gold does have some loss when smelting, but it so so low it would take constant smelting over hundreds of years for that loss to significant enough to be noticeable. We are talking something like 0.000000~1%. Only extremely low low quality or Fools Gold has greater loss.

[@srelma]

One important quality that gold has is that it is relatively rare and its production can't be ramped up quickly. That principle was violated when the Spanish plundered America in the 16th century. They flooded Europe with gold, which, as expected, led to an inflation. So, it's not that paper currency is fundamentally different from gold currency. Both will have inflation if the production increases faster than the rest of the economy (which is actually the key point that TIK missed). Printing fiat money when the economy is growing (more products in the market) does not lead to inflation but only negates deflation. By the way, if someone figured out a cheap way to mine a metal asteroid that contains massive amount of gold and other valuable metals, the price of them would immediately plummet.

[@VT-mw2zb]

"Money printing" isn't impossible with gold coins. There were debasement: government collecting the coins, melt it down, mix it with other metals, and inflate the numbers. People clip the edges, put them in a bag, shake them and get some of the gold dust loose. Yes, you can keep the "good" coins, but the end result is still mostly the same.

[@theeternalsuperstar3773]

Gold and Silver do have actual commodity value in modern-day in being used in computing hardware.

[@mkzhero]

Well, actually they do lose weight over time to friction and dust, especially gold which is rarher soft. There's a famous story of an old time banker that'd count the gold over a napkin and would take it home, burn the napkins and extract some extra good to keep. But yeah, even with all the possible losses in melting and friction, the price would still be far more stable than government issued toilet paper. As someone said, gold and silver can also be 'faked' by government adding other metals in to increase the currency supply, as happened in Rome for example... But this also operates from the assumption that government would own the currency, which definitely shouldn't be the case. And I think by today we can even make machines that would be able to analyze the purity of coins and their exact weight, regardless of their shape, so we'd definitely be able to trade gold, silver and other metals pretty well as physical currency.

[@ThZuao]

Another often overlooked factor is that you can find almost pure chunks of it. It is the most common metal to be found in nuggets. Silver, Copper and Platinum can also be found in nuggets, but Gold is by far the most common one to be found that way. For example, the biggest nugget ever found was found in Australia and weights 78kg, 73 of which are of pure gold. The ancients found a chunk of it, found it pretty and easy to shape, and that's probably how it became valuable.

[@waldtk3000]

In the US, in 1933, FDR also confiscated American’s gold by means of the Gold Reserve Act. FDR (and to some extent Hoover) turned an economic downturn into the Great Depression which lasted for about a decade. He was a true socialist, and largely responsible for steering the US towards socialism; but he also was a naturally born politician.

[@CantusTropus]

One small thing that I figured I should mention - those books might be incorrectly named "Downfall of Money" instead of "Downfall of Currency" because authors often don't control the name or cover art for their books. Very often the publisher decides what the book will be called for the purpose of advertising, or what sounds best. Even if they did decide, they may have felt like "Money" was a more appealing word and would draw more readers, and named it accordingly.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

Absolutely, and "money" is a shorter word than "currency", so it makes sense from an advertisement point of view.

[@myninja7789]

@@TheImperatorKnight Hey bud do a video on a book called the " Red Symphony " by Dr. J Landowsky.

[@Tony-zh1kz]

I admire how this video already starts with subtitles while it was uploaded, it shows that you really have time and patience for your detailed content. Good work!

[@TheImperatorKnight]

I'm glad you like them because it took me an hour to put them in 👍

[@mikaelarkanghel5094]

@@TheImperatorKnight somehow in these very dangerous times i find it hard to make time to watch videos on War, yes even your great vids about the Stalingrad battle Tik, though i am a fan of your great work on it.. Your upcoming videos about this timely and very important subject is however Very welcome 👍 Hopefully it makes a Difference. Knowledge, True Knowledge and Understanding can make a difference. God bless you and your family Tik

[@gonzalowskig.6019]

@@TheImperatorKnight thanks for the subtitles, TIK

[@friendlyfire7861]

@@TheImperatorKnight That's sick fast!

[@andrewkelley9405]

Considering how misunderstood inflation is in the modern times; I’m looking forward to more Bank Wars. Also I bought that Henry Hazlit book at your recommendation. Great read. Edit: I love how you call them komissars :)

[@P4neK4ke]

In a few generations (or maybe not even that) all wars of the 20th century will be labeled The Bankers Wars.

[@elLooto]

Most Universities teach inflation as the Keynesian definition of "an increase in the general price level of the economy" which is, at best, a multivariant definition and thus more or less useless. Most of my professors didnt seem to appreciate that M2 money [currency] supply is a fantastic leading indicator of inflation. Almost all western counties have an M2 inflation about 7%. Which is, incidentally, about the rate of housing inflation.... wonder why ;)

[@tylerbozinovski427]

Such as how Joe Biden thinks inflation is actually a good thing.

[@JMM33RanMA]

The currency history of the US is interesting. Originally the US government used foreign coins especially Spanish dollars from which the term 2 bits for a quarter comes. In the 19th Century there was no central bank, so state and private banks issued banknotes. If you travelled from Boston to Florida Boston Bank notes became useless, so, like pre-Euro Europe it was necessary to change currency in each state [incurring loss during each transaction]. I've seen photos of shops in NYC with a signboard giving prices for various banknotes, a lot like the ones I saw in Europe in the 1970's. BTW if you have a demonetized US bill for $50 [Gold or silver] the Federal Reserve will redeem it for the face value. That would be foolish because a numismatist would probably pay more for it, as a collectable antique commodity. Ditto for old US coins, they are still legal tender at face value, even if the date and content would make them worth more.

[@tonilehtonen7491]

It's still crazy how "recent" this era was and how we still learn something from it. My grandpa always talks alot about this era as he was born during the great depression, I still can't wrap around how crazy that inflation problem really was, I still struggle to explain this to others to the point that I've actually made someone cry because they couldn't understand why it happened.. With that said, great video as always!

[@someonethatwatchesyoutube2953]

Don’t worry Toni, everyone will be experts in hyperinflation in the next decade or two.

[@sillypuppy5940]

Here's another lesson: whenever there's a big war in the offing, governments will take control of assets, both human and monetary. Look what's happening now, and think about what it means.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

Why are the rich and powerful buying / building bunkers in remote locations or on Islands ...

[@druiz1975]

@@RemusKingOfRome The rich are building space shuttles now

[@Havre_Chithra]

"What we have is the veneer of capitalism on the coffin of socialism, and a lot of people believing a lie" That hit me hard.

[@cavaleer]

The mythological entity called "the State" is the key to understanding this. America was founded very explicitly as anti-State. But because we did not have clear mechanisms in place for the People to exercise authority over elected and appointed public officials, "the State" has emerged as the new master. This presentation is one of the few that directly calls out "the State" as the new/old for Brits, owner of the land etc. America's way forward, (I can only speak for America), is to castrate "the State" and its stranglehold on authority. The division of power among the various branches of government is no longer a sufficient check on state tyranny.

[@flost8202]

So isnt that fascism? Where evrything is owned by the state and you jave to pay them to use their stuff.

[@Havre_Chithra]

@@flost8202 pretty much ye

[@ikiyuz4344]

@@flost8202 socialism which everything is state owned as well, the only difference being facism is racist socialism and communism is class socialism.

[@flost8202]

@@ikiyuz4344 no. In theory evrything is owned collectively by evryone. In fascism its owned by the state. That's the difference. Hatred is part of both in the sence or nationalism in the belief ones group is superior to others (not necessarily race) and in Hatred for the capitalist and people think differently.

[@lowersaxon]

(German) Economist and former civil servant of German central bank here, I have to say I enjoyed a very competent video, imho. Well done, respect. But when the definitions of inflation and deflation are discussed, well, historically you are more accurate, nevertheless it would be useless to fight the modern definitions as rising or falling prices that are by now all too well established and cemented in the public mind. From a Misean, Rothbardian perspective however your position on this is concise, agreed! PS: my much preferred Italien pizzeria here just recently raised most of his prices by 15 to 20%! 🥶

[@Sshooter444]

Time to make your own pizza!

[@widehotep9257]

Mises and Rothbard were wrong about money creation. They both preached the debunked "Fractional Reserve" theory of banking. This nonsense theory was debunked in 2014 by Richard Werner who proved that banks create 100% new money when they issue loans with no need for prior deposits or reserves. Werner did this by studying a bank during the loan creation process. He observed that the money being lent was not transferred from any account inside or outside the bank. It was 100% new money created as a book-keeping entry in the bank's computer. The bogus "Fractional Reserve" model lied and said the money being lent by banks existed in an account somewhere prior to the borrower arriving. bankLIESdot ORG

[@whisped8145]

This is odd, for just 15-20 years ago I still learned it as TIK explained... though not from school or parents. I can't even say where from, yet it was during a time I was still in school.

[@lowersaxon]

@@widehotep9257 I respect Werner very much. That being said Mises and Rothbard pleaded for a Gold Backed monetary system which was and would be very different from the Fiat system we live in right now.

[@lowersaxon]

@@Sshooter444 Yes, I will think about that harder than in the past!

[@johnjohnson-io1os]

This dude has done more to flip the script on what people assumed about ww2 then anyone else imo. At least on youtube.I don't agree 100 of course but keep up the awesome work

[@TheDunestyler]

just before Germany started using the Euro, there were still commonly used silver coins of 5 Mark or 10 Mark. I still have quite a few of those. their "value" as compared to the exchange rate between German Mark and Euro is now WAY above what I would have gotten for them had I exchanged them at the bank when the Euro was newly introduced.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

You should definitely keep hold of them!

[@TheDunestyler]

@@TheImperatorKnight definitely. that has been the plan from the get-go.

[@TheDunestyler]

@@TheImperatorKnight They were supposed to be a kind of guarantee for later, which is why my whole family collected them, put them into folders and stored them since.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

I guess you collect other silver too?

[@TheDunestyler]

@@TheImperatorKnight gold, actually. and ofc real estate (to live in!) your video about depressions and recessions really makes me shy away from stocks at a time like this, tbh.

[@ivanjevtic2084]

Hi TIK, I`m from Serbia.As you already know,we had a very ugly civil war in Yugoslavia.Due to that civil war we in Serbia had hyper-inflation.Believe me,inflation in my country between 1990-94 was almost like in Germany 20`s.It was really madness and unthinkible.So,this excellent video is great lesson for anyone who didn`t live in hyper-inflation...greetings and all best I wish you in your life and work😉

[@TheImperatorKnight]

@Ho Lee Fukk I'm assuming you're referring to Russia in the 1990s. But Russia also went through a hyperinflation during the Russian Civil War, and I'll be briefly mentioning this in this series because it's relevant to what happened in Germany at the time.

[@laacademie5605]

actually inflation in Yugoslavia, similar to Germany, started way before the 90s, in 1945 the USD to dinar exchange rate was 50.6, in 1965 it was 1250, arguably, socialist Yugoslavia was always hyper-inflating, it just that in the 80s it reached astronomic heights. Sadly people still today about it as golden times, while forgetting that the government was funding it's social programs through massive inflation. My dad grew up in a major steel-town and remembers workers waiting for their freshly printed wages to arrive by helicopter.

[@GuilhermePereira-vi6vc]

@@laacademie5605 well, it worked, that is what matters

[@laacademie5605]

@@GuilhermePereira-vi6vc it definitely worked in causing economic collapse and a civil war

[@JhnReynolds]

Yep, and in hindsight it is most interesting how the Yugoslav hyperinflation stopped - it was the government that decided to stop it at a certain point, when in fact some factors connected to the predominant narrative (like international embargo and the war) didn't cease to exist.

[@s.31.l50]

Good to see TIK sticking to banks! Reading What has Government Done to Our Money was a huge eye-opening experience for me, so thank you for suggesting the book in one of the Q&A videos ages ago.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

I would also recommend Rothbard's "America's Great Depression" which I think knocks the ball out of the park. It's available for free here mises.org/library/americas-great-depression

[@widehotep9257]

Rothbard was wrong about how banks function. He preached the debunked "Fractional Reserve" model. Richard Werner proved empirically in 2014 that banks create new currency when they issue loans with no prior need for reserves or deposits. Werner proved that over 95% of the currency supply is created by private banks issuing loans, NOT by the governments or central banks. The bogus "Fractional Reserve" model pretends that the money being lent exists in an account somewhere before the borrower arrives at the bank. Why would Rothbard and the Austrians push this nonsensical myth for decades without ever testing to see if it is true?

[@shiniquayakaachmiff6898]

TIK, I know you get a lot of crap for your economics videos, but I honestly prefer those over your WW2 ones. Please keep these type of videos coming!

[@TheImperatorKnight]

I'm glad to hear that! Takes the sting off the fact that this is the worst performing video of mine out of the previous ten ☹️ I guess the majority of my viewers are here for tanks, not history

[@cloudybeforerain7134]

Not all of us are here for tanks. I’ll second Shiniqua and say more econ history please. It sets the context we don’t get at school or in documentaries on the telly.

[@magnuscritikaleak5045]

@@TheImperatorKnight let's not fight amongst our selves and start kicking arse the ignorant Economists academics and Game CAcademics from Neoliberal institutions.

[@sunfoodie]

@@TheImperatorKnightYou present the most objective and honest videos that make distinctions where it’s important to do so, but your videos in economics are more crucial in the sense that it’s the least well-educated in most curriculums (probably deliberate) and to integrate that with history is a feat too important to ignore. Much appreciation TIK for what’s obviously a LOT of dedication and hard work.

[@hudsondonnell444]

From 12:00 to 12:15, you have made a more accurate description of the economic state of things than any statement I can find from Milton Friedman.

[@pavoldanko4811]

Looking at the length of the video, I can see that the break served you well. Welcome back!

[@ZadakLeader]

Stellar stuff I kept telling my friends (without knowing what the people you mentioned said) that yes there is more money, but not more things. And we're in a very bad spot now (and setup to be in a bad spot) as consumers.

[@friendlyfire7861]

Especially since everybody else doesn't have more things either. The US has gotten away with printing IMHO because its denominator was not US GDP but world GDP. The party's over, folks.

[@CarbonatedGravy]

That ice cream example was great, though also keep in mind that the ice cream truck in addition to increasing prices, also increases his demand to where he buys his ice cream from and they need to hire more people to satisfy demand or pay more to avoid losing his people and attract others. Inflation has positives and negatives but the negatives become so magnified that your economy collapses when driven too far. In a heavily indebted population for instance inflation acts as a relief to them as much as it does the government, but as always the middle class is hit the hardest where they have substantial savings and not a huge amount of debt.

[@robotron1236]

This is, BY FAR, the most important video series I have ever watched, and I’m barely at the end of the second video in it. These 2 videos, are chillingly relevant, to the modern US. It’s absolutely terrifying, just how easily, you can replace their gold standard with modern fiat currency, and the propositions for central bank digital currencies with their fiat currency.

[@YourHaloCreations]

Don’t know why people don’t like this economic content. I learn so much

[@Alberta1stPodcast]

I have to comment again. You are %100 correct on the definition of inflation! This is an insanely good video on economics. Please do more. This is incredible. You are an Austrian economist. Spread the knowledge

[@gagrochowski]

Excellent! I wasn´t expecting something like this. Beyond being innovative, this is a quite good opportunity to dispell a series of economic myths that is reproduced by the mainstream, but that you are immune to when you study more profoundly the economic history topic - myths such as those who appoints the Keynesianism as the responsible for taking out USA off the Great Depression.

[@tomhigson3989]

I'm always amazed at your commitment to fully explaining your research and perspectives. Well done amazing information.

[@ftffighter]

TIK, you sir speak the truth and go places many historians are afraid to go! The complexity behind Germany's economic situation from 1911(or 1918 in this case) through to the Cold War is a lot to wrap one's head around when one examines the details. For you to stand up to the plate and take a swing at explaining this topic instantly puts you ahead of the majority of these so called "Historians" on the internet. I loved that you showed us the actual bank notes too. Thank you for your work sir!

[@wojtek6781]

TIK, when I was in university, the only "positive" that the instructor could give for inflation is encouraging people to spend money since you'll get nothing if it sits in the bank.

[@overdose8329]

Yeah it’s supposed to prevent hoarding and therefore force people with capital to invest in businesses and the like so as to not have the money lose value. A tiny bit of inflation isn’t bad. I haven’t watched the video yet though so we’ll see if I change my mind

[@TheImperatorKnight]

It's insane though, since it's saving which causes growth not unrestricted spending mises.org/library/deflating-deflation-myth

[@overdose8329]

@@TheImperatorKnight What do you think of Islam’s solution to the issue via the Zakat system? Use real money but instead of debasing the currency via inflation to force people to invest their money, everyone above a certain level of wealth in certain forms - but mainly in hard cash (the system is a bit more complicated than that though) - pays a yearly 2.5% wealth tax that goes almost exclusively towards the poor.

[@lijger1]

In the Eurozone savings kept increasing even though there was some inflation and no bonus for the savings. People don't spend but start saving even more to make up for uncertainty.

[@friendlyfire7861]

@@overdose8329 That's the party line; I don't believe it. They never hit their inflation "targets" anyway. US inflation avg is about 3.75%, not the target 2% (or aspirational 0% of Alan Greenspan) and that's with use of the increasingly manipulated CPI (consumer price index).

[@rubenmelchor829]

There is no better time to make this series as the one we live in right now. Funny how many people think printing money has nothing but benefits and inflation is a right wing mith. Nice job Tik

[@TheImperatorKnight]

I agree, it is good timing. Part of the reason I wanted to do this was because I personally wanted to figure out if what we hear about inflation (from both sides) is true or false. If we're going to suffer under inflationary pressure, then we need to be as informed as we can be about the situation, and you can't learn from history if the history is giving you the wrong information.

[@redtheftauto]

J Powels money printer doesn't have an off button.

[@ducthman4737]

@@Edax_Royeaux BIG Government increases the debt. And the more 'free' stuff they promise the bigger will be the debt. But most people vote for those who promise the most free stuff. And then they wonder how they lost their Free dom.

[@tdvwest9514]

@@Edax_Royeaux So they lose freedoms because they are attacked by a violent big government, that doesn't seem to make big government all that appealing. Not to mention that Britain was pretty authoritarian and shitty to its colonies.

[@tdvwest9514]

@@Edax_Royeaux I wouldn't use Jonestown as an example of people trying to escape big government as they had socialist politics and weren't killed by nature but a mass suicide pact out of some delusional belief that they were fighting fascisms. Small governments or flexible planning has given way to some impressive military victories. You don't need to have a large military while sacrificing individual liberties. militaries Also didn't Denmark have a central planned economy at the time of Nazi invasion.

[@dondajulah4168]

Anyone that lives in the US and has not made the connection between the government distributing checks directly to the populace with no concomitant increase in production (in fact, a contraction) and the surge in prices just will never get it.

[@dondajulah4168]

@@Edax_Royeaux as TIK mentioned in the video and as does anyone with any background in economics is aware, inflationary effects take time to impact. And in the context of a global crisis where global demand is certain to plummet the one commodity which drives all economic activity for transpiring physical goods AND requires significant storage AND with the cost of incremental production close to zero (due to the low ratio of la or to capital) then it is quite obvious that a short term inflationary effect would not exist. Oil prices are also impacted by so many other factors not related to governments directly distributing checks to citizens such as hostility to the production of said commodity va alternatives and the political relationship to the largest global producers (I.e. Saudi Arabia). No one with any sense expected a rise in prices for consumption commodities to occur until economic activity started to recover. But please do tell how the stock markets and the crypto currency markets reacted to the expansion of the money supply in a time frame of < 3 months? I can tell you that is where the checks I received went to and I am sure I was not the only person doing this.

[@dondajulah4168]

@@Edax_Royeaux It should also be noted that there were governmental actions taken that had an effect on stabilizing prices where the normal reaction would be for prices to rise. For example, it is kind of difficult for a landlord to raise rent to a tenant that has the option to forgo paying any rent without suffering any consequences. Large supermarket chains are at risk of not only angering their customers, but drawing the ire of the media and government regulators by increasing prices in response to demand (hence the shortages of specific items during the early stages of the pandemic). The perishable nature of many essential commodities inhibits consumers from storing large quantities otherwise it is likely we would have seen hoarding of foodstuffs and other perishables or any other items that require a lot of storage space. Because of the economically irrational laws against "price gouging", there is no rational basis for hoarding at the commercial level (see the story of the man in the US who went across several states to purchase essentials with the idea of re-selling him and the governmental reaction to these actions).

[@mikehunt8375]

Sadly that's most! They dont even understand what Fiat means. They dont understand the thing they love more then anything else, they worship fake money, and they're to stupid to understand its worthless. Heck they think the Government prints the currency. Smdh

[@life_of_riley88]

@@Edax_Royeaux That's the thing, there is a tipping point with Fiat currency. Once it goes over this waterfall, the value falls faster than it can be exchanged. The challenge is understanding the forces(besides rampant printing) that lead to it's loss of efficacy as a medium and store of value. Populace sentiment is probably theost important factor.

[@life_of_riley88]

@@Edax_Royeaux Very true, and in the meantime, we should be evaluating what assets/commodities/money we can exchange our Fiat currency for.

[@OlmoVonHabsurg]

Awesome video. Shame KZbin disabled dislikes, really wanted to see how many this series would have gotten.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

Currently it has 3,117 likes and 90 dislikes, so that's a 97.2% like to dislike ratio. KZbin still allows creators to view the dislikes, and I wish there was an option to show dislikes again because I prefer them to be public

[@OlmoVonHabsurg]

@@TheImperatorKnight Thanks for answering my comment TIK!

[@baskoning9896]

Chrome has an extension called 'Return KZbin Dislike'. This video has 91 dislikes now.

[@whirving]

@@flashgordon6670 except that is only for government information, not business information, and that is on on a need to know basis anyway ;)

[@Sshooter444]

No one in the world deserves to have their feelings hurt!

[@brandonevans4295]

I love your economics vidoes TIK. I’m glad you’re doing an entire series and not just doing a one off vidoe

[@tyvamakes5226]

This will be the first economic series of TIK. Now those "stick to tank" guys don't know what to say anymore!

[@TheImperatorKnight]

It's almost as though I'm ignoring them or something... Perhaps they'll take the hint this time

[@tyvamakes5226]

@@TheImperatorKnight Hopefully in the future, when youtube finally wants to become television (and wipe out history channels of any kind for "potential problematic content"), you can loosen a bit with the modern controversial topics, like Brexit and the Armenian genocide.

[@84elmer]

Well it is a video about "tanking" economy so they can go and stuff it.

[@robert48044]

Hell yeah, This is the stuff that catches my attention now. So much of WW2 and the Nazis gets covered but often the topics that are timeless are ignored. What I mean by that is the Nazis aren't coming back but the circumstances that created them will.

[@hermitoldguy6312]

They didn't go away - the Europe Union was the same goal by other means.

[@robert48044]

​@@hermitoldguy6312 I expected something like that, lol

[@royhuang9715]

They might come back. Nazi raise to power isn’t just because economy is bad or nationalism is high. It’s undereducated fanatic slaves following an evil master. And trust me people are dumb these days. Nazis will come back, just under a different name.

[@damnmexican90]

@@royhuang9715 like how my country blindly ibeys and follows its zionist masters?

[@robert48044]

@@royhuang9715 is this a "never trump" comment?

[@Alex-hp1ht]

Thanks for another video, love your content and your use of sources + interpretation

[@traderknightzbitcoinuniver8168]

Man this was a great educational video, thought it was going to be a review but there were a few new things I learned

[@davidrussell8689]

Your work is very appreciated. There are events discussed here that I must confess I’ve never even heard mentioned before . Thank you for shedding some light on this subject . I understand that people may think these videos are long winded but without the detail you go into the overall view would be deficient.

[@Calbeck]

The best explanation for why inflation is "valuable" I've ever heard is that in the process of devaluing the currency, it ALSO devalues existing debts. Someone who invests in commodities, and who thus retains more of the overall total value of their wealth, can wait until their outstanding debts devalue to whatever they feel is comfortable, then cash out some or all of their commodities in order to pay off their debts at a MUCH cheaper rate than if there had been no inflation at all.

[@bt3779]

This is the reason what the government is planning on doing, inflating themselves out of the gov't debt crisis on our backs.

[@Dhjaru]

A house is still worth a house after hyperinflation and a bar of gold is still worth a bar of gold. Only the currency is percived as worth nothing after hyperinflation.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

@@Dhjaru Did you see what happened to "houses" in Detroit and Chicago after 2008 ..

[@RemusKingOfRome]

@@bt3779 Oh YEs ! and when Globalisation fails, prices of everything will go to the moon..

[@hansbuechi3411]

That's why the rich are not paying taxes, they all barrow aginst their equity in stocks to buy more equity. They are actually shorting the dollar and making the assumption that inflation will make debt aquired today irelivent tomorrow. Musk is borrowing against Tesla to build Space X and Starlink. In the end he will own all three companies and the debt will be gone. They are all doing it, Bezos, Gates, and all the Billionaires you never heard of.

[@sparkyfromel]

In the convict jail period of early Australia , the currency was Rum the supply was a monopoly provided by the mess of the local regiment guarding the convicts , which was quickly called "the Rum corps" it was a perfect medium , having an intrinsic value and a natural shrinking preventing inflation

[@DarkVeghetta]

If I haven't misunderstood the first part of this video and given the intrinsic value/use you have outlined, within said early Australian context, that rum would more accurately be described as money (though, given it was a medium of exchange, I do believe it would also qualify as currency as well... unless I'm getting currency's definition wrong).

[@jayg1438]

@12:20 - Excellent presentation on inflation. Rising prices are not inflation, they are a symptom of inflation. This is because the currency supply is a commodity. If there is more currency (means of exchange) and the same level of demand (available tangible commodities) the 'value' of the means of exchange decreases. Anyone in the USA needs to understand this. The reason we are experiencing inflation is because of runaway government spending over the past 3-4 years. That spending has been done through the issuance of new debt. That issuance of new debt expands the currency supply (aka monetary supply). Enjoying this discussion.

[@GeneralKenobiSIYE]

I do enjoy when your narration slowly or even quickly increases in the passion of delivery. It's easy to see you love history as much as I do. I never understood it whenever my school peers said they hated history.

[@og4699]

10/10 this is why KZbin is the absolute best

[@joe3897]

oh hell yes been waiting years for this series! keep up the good work and don’t burnout over the holidays!

[@FraterOculus]

(From me, guy at Columbia School of Economics) To be money, it must have three things: It must be a unit of account, a means of exchange, and a store of value. Secondly, inflation is an inflation of the money supply, as this guy says. We have seen a massive rise in the money supply in just a few short years. In about three years we inflated the money supply in America by about a third.

[@captainotto]

14:22 100% absolutely right. It is the expansion of the money supply NOT the rising prices that is "The Inflation". I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me it's just semantics or that it's flat out wrong. That redefinition has made it so very easy for the CBs to hide actual inflation via the hackery of CPIs. Instantly subscribed.

[@leeoflincoln7062]

Magnificent, TIK. Your postings are probably the most intelligent, well researched and well thought out historical blogs on KZbin. Thia video has been an excellent education on economics, at this point I like to think I understand where you are going with respect to hyperinflation and Hitler’s strategy with regards to geographical expansion and the ultimate outbreak of WW2. But I am sure you will prove me wrong and demonstrate a more subtle evolution and outcome of the post WW1 situation. Thank you so much for going to the effort of producing these videos, they are fantastic.

[@alwallace4538]

I know you say how all these folks are saying "stick to tanks", but, by the comments, I'm obviously not the only one who appreciates the econ videos

[@cybair9341]

I'm very interested to learn the relations between banking and war. Please, keep these videos coming !

[@2bbade]

Fascinating series. I was surprised when you mentioned Mises. I'm a member of the Institute. In college, in the US, I minored in economics. All I heard was Keynes. Strange, I didn't buy it. Maybe if real economics had been taught, I might have majored in the subject. Also, I have always had doubts about the history of the wars. It would be interesting for you to address how you became "an outsider."

[@malcolmfreeman7802]

you shouldnt be - TIKs either a neo-lib or this fake anarcho capitalism shill

[@marcusjansson9000]

TIK you're the man! So thankful for the gathering of many different sources and your appreciation for critical thinking.

[@jkahgdkjhafgsd]

my brain has gotten a little bigger after listening to this, so Imma listen to it again

[@satanicmuffin9309]

Released in the wake of a 39 year high inflation in the US at 6.8% (of course the real inflation is higher, around 15%), this is well timed. Thanks Tik.

[@elLooto]

Remember that 6.8% is Keynesian inflation (ie "an increase in the general price level of the economy") If you want a leading indicator of inflation look at the M2 money supply [speaking as an economist] because it closely matches housing prices in the long run.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

I agree that house prices are a good indicator of inflation. I would also suggest that we measure prices in terms of gold pricedingold.com/uk-house-prices/

[@ww2.militaria]

Looking forward to this one, I always found it fascinating learning about the stories of the hyperinflation in Weimar Germany back in school.

[@JonnyBanana21]

Perfect time to make such a series

[@robertclark3258]

Thank you, TIK!! If only people could understand what you're talking about. Unfortunately, I don't expect to live long enough to see that.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

To be honest, neither do I! KZbin is telling me that most of my viewers aren't interested in this topic, so it'll probably get ignored by those who really need to see it. Won't stop me from making more though.

[@gjbuyken]

Boom gold! Great video thank you for the time and effort from you and your team

[@LarsNielsen-t9x]

When production inreases, so the amount of money must increase too, to keep prices stable. during he gold standard era, the amount of gold incresed 1½% annually, but production increased faster. So prices were falling, leading to lower profits. Also people did not have to invest, to get richer. They only had to keep their money in their pockets. As result production frequently surpassed demand, because companies tried to keep prices stable. It was therefore the gold standard, which caused frequent crises, andnot FIAT money.

[@gb4206]

''lets say me and my friend buy ice cream'' >shows halder perfection.

[@vancouver4sure]

Man... one episode and I learned so much... with what's been pulled on the honest working dude I sure hope this is a simulation..

[@molletre9606]

Fantastic topic. I just read about the Pengő hyperinflation in Hungary after WW2. With its roots in WW1, WW2, first the German, than Soviet occupation. Its stunning how sh** really can hit the fan and everything just spirals completely out of control. Within a single year, the economy was just devastated and no longer existing.

[@k3D4rsi554maq]

Time is money, and money is time. This is the literal truth.

[@piotergod]

it all sounds sensible but for hundreds of years the main form of money has been gold or silver, and this has not prevented from absolute monarchies, wars, slaughters, slavery etc.

[@oceanmadrosci3381]

Hyperinflaction is good because EVERYONE IS A BILIONAIRE 🥳

[@ddree7180]

LAMO everyone is billionaires and broke at the same time

[@solidcold9491]

Venezuela numba wan.

[@overdose8329]

@@solidcold9491 Zimbabwe is best

[@johnyoung3511]

Good timing as we head into inflationary times. It takes years for monetary policy to develop. Not the quick fix portrayed by the media. Well done!!

[@thek3317]

I like how you focused on the source of the words of Money and currency. I never tought of them as differnt. Thanks for teaching me something new :^)

[@CalCaliente]

Great video !! I’m going to share this with many people !

[@sifridbassoon]

Just finished When Money Dies. Very good. Lots of detail and facts I didn't know.

[@Ciborium]

Tank enthusiasts: "Just stick to tanks." Economics and logistics enthusiasts: "Just stick to economics."

[@Drain_Life_Archive]

This is going to be a good series, looking forward to the rest.

[@audrius337]

I think I'm starting to prefer your economic videos over the military history videos. Great video

[@janneruohomaki2211]

My god You are amazing. Nice to see You back on my monitor. I think You have taught me more about history and politics than I have learned in 42 years of my life before I found You.I did have couple of really good history teachers in school (Hello Jari Salminen and Kalle), but Your stuff is simply something that I cannot even come up with adjectives good enough to describe it.

[@widehotep9257]

The money creation process in the Weimar republic was controlled by 1) Privately-owned "loan banks", and 2) The privately-owned Reichsbank. The Government printed the banknotes, but ONLY private banks issued these into circulation. Since hyper-inflation is caused by excess money, and only private banks created the Weimar money, ONLY private banks were responsible for the Weimar hyperinflation. Here's a passage from page 5 of Adam Ferguson's book, "When Money Dies": "(the money creation system) was contrived by setting up loan banks whose funds were to be provided simply by printing them. The loan banks would give credits to business, to the Federal states, to the municipalities and to the new war corporations; and, moreover, they were to advance money for war bond subscriptions. Loan bank notes, whose denominations ranged from one to 50 marks, were to be regarded as legal tender; and those not taken up by the Reichsbank were put into immediate circulation." The Reichsbank was 100% privately-owned, and wasn't nationalized until 1939 by you-know-who.

[@Alberta1stPodcast]

I'm 5 minutes deep and you got my sub. I'm sad you didn't mention Peter Schiff 😔. Since his stance on bitcoin he has become more known than Rothbard. Happy new year thanks for the content sir

[@TheImperatorKnight]

I did reference him though! I was actually tempted to copy into this video his video on the changed definition of inflation because it's fantastic kzbin.info/www/bejne/gWG5fK2Eqb-opqM

[@KarloSiljeg-ci6wg]

Well Tik how does a country/economy pay for all goods and services if gold/silver are in finite supply ? For example a country grows from let’s say 10 million people and it 40 years time they have 20million residents and they have moved from being an agricultural society to an industrialised society. how would then pay for goods and service - that means that gold would would have to be fractionalized and over time something that would have been paid let’s say 10 grams of gold would then be worth 5 grams of gold as the number of residents has doubled and the GDP would have also grown considerably

[@BitterComments]

I have a coin from Weimar Germany that’s worth 50 million marks. *Best $32 piece of aluminum I’ve ever purchased.*

[@BitterComments]

@Ra's Al Ghul 🎻

[@David_Brinkerhoff93]

Easily one of the top 10 best videos on the channel. cant wait for the next in the series.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

Wow, thanks for the feedback! I put a lot of work into this, so hopefully the rest of the series will be the same

[@heterodoxagnostic8070]

nothing has intrinsic value, it has to be valued by someone.

[@andybunn5780]

Just wanted to point out that coins DO have value in the form of the metals from which they are made, presuming you could develop or find someone with the skills to process it. Notice coin shortage.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

True, but when the coins are made of base metals, you'd need a lot to make it worth melting them down. Thanks to the recent economic issues, the price of copper went up by 300%, and the same with other metals, which is probably why they've begun to disappear because it may now be worth it to melt them down. It's also more difficult to pay for things with pennies, since the price of things have gone up, making pennies less valuable. I actually have a small stack of pennies on my desk simply because they're not worth carrying in my pocket when I go to the shops. I don't want to be stood there counting out all the pennies and holding up the queue!

[@leechowning2712]

The other reason for the coin shortage is as acceptance of inflation. When a family expenses have grown from $250 in 2019 to $350 in 2021, this is not 5% inflation. Pennies, dimes, nickels and quarters are not keeping value, and a person will notice it faster if they are paying with coins. So the banks are under instruction to decrease the amounts available (by central banks "requesting" the coins "due to shortages elsewhere"). The banks change the coins with either paper or electronic currency and less coins remain in the system.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

Yes, and they want to go cashless so they can implement the negative interest rates that they so desperately need to implement.

[@leechowning2712]

@@TheImperatorKnight as a person who's worked several years in Brazil, economies crashing and massive devaluation of currency are things that we think of... And then they wonder why almost none of my savings is in fiat currency. Oh sure they tell me that Bitcoin investment is meaningless if the power and everything goes out, but if we are in that level of collapse it becomes a game of my eggs Trump your hundred dollar bill.

[@overdose8329]

@@leechowning2712 Get yourself a set of solar panels if you live in a place with decent sunlight, a diesel or other form of generator, and keep a few months worth of food at all times at home. If the state allows you to own guns then get some as well. You can also buy or print out a few books or PDFs for how-to’s for important things. If you’re quite well off buy a cottage a few hours drive away from civilization and store all that stuff there

[@oceanmadrosci3381]

Episode 1 means that there will be more episodes about weimar hiperinflation or more about bank wars? (I hope both)

[@TheImperatorKnight]

Episode 1 for the Weimar Hyperinflation. This video only goes from the start of the inflation through to 1918. Future videos will go through 1918-1923 (and a little beyond)

[@danreed7889]

My German wife has a 5 million Mark note from this era-printed only on one side.

[@TheImperatorKnight]

Nice! I do too, and you'll see it later in the series 👍

[@juanfranciscosebastianm6010]

@@TheImperatorKnight Here in Colombia during one of its civil wars the central bank actually ran out of paper from printing money and resorted to using chocolate wrappings to print more money

[@danreed7889]

@@juanfranciscosebastianm6010 that is incredible

[@stefanschuepfer]

Economics for beginners: It's not just the money supply that matters, but the (money supply * velocity of money). Hence when the money supply is increased by the central bank, but the velocity of money decreases by the same factor, nothing changes and inflation does not pick up. As an example: if the central bank prints money and distributes it evenly among the citizens, and every citizen puts that extra banknotes under his mattress, then the increase has zero effect because the average circulation speed of a bank not will decrease (the new cash under the mattress has zero circulation, weighting on the average). The crucial fact here is that the central bank does control the money supply, but has no control over the velocity of money. Hence the central bank has no direct control over inflation, and TIKs explanations fall apart.

[@smokeydapot]

To be fair, my coins have value. Copper can be quite useful. Pro tip for the Ameribros: Pennies from 1982 and before contain 2 cents worth of copper.

[@Anacronian]

TIK is now imagining Halder is his ice cream friend, You sure you don't need a longer break?

[@theblindlucario5093]

Appropriate series for the modern state of society. Great work TIK! Definitely learned a lot that I hadn't planned on learning today!

[@stephenkneller6435]

I love these war economy videos. Great job!

[@rogerparkhurst5796]

I agree with previous comments below. Excellent job tackling this topic and exposing details many would never see/hear/or read! I like your style and you have hooked me.

[@ReadMr]

Wow! Brilliant episode! Coincidently, I'm just doing a research to write a blog post about the hyperinflation in Weimar Germany. You've helped me to fill in some gaps. Cheers!

[@wayneorellana2549]

Another brilliant episode. Thank you TIK.

[@AndreLuis-gw5ox]

Hey TIK, I think you made a minor error: towards the end of the video, you mentioned Axis powers when talking about the Central powers

[@TheImperatorKnight]

Good spot!

[@Arkantos117]

I just hope that our civilisation never switches to 100% digital currency.

[@jefftrotter5802]

I do Got 100 million shiba inu coin

[@PhantomHarlock78]

Living in Brazil in the 80s we have a lot of inertial inflation. In 1990 they tried dry the amount of money and did not work. Only in 1993/94 when they created a index based on dollar value and transited the currency for this index value the inflation stopped. There was other economic factors of course, but the inertial pressure was a big thing.

[@uffemerrild4282]

I love this video, thanks for the great work here. I really like your presentation and all the Mises and Rothbard quotes along with other authors makes my day :) Thank you for the hard work. One extremely small detail. At 1:00:42 approximately you mention the gold reserves of the Reichsbank. The source is Bresciani Turroni but the page should have been 448 not 438 (if you have the third edition anyway - from your sources list it seems like this is what you have). The number in 1914 is correct but in 1918 you say 2,626.2 million gold marks but the table says 2,262.2. Sorry for bringing up this very small point. I had the book on my shelf and could not resist looking up the source.

[@thejustifier6602]

Pretty crazy how many countries started using less precious metal in coins during and after the war. I have a half crown from 1920 and it only has 50 percent silver content. Before 1919 they were 92.5 percent silver. In comparison to my pre-1965 US quarters with 90 percent silver.

[@garythacker6731]

This sounds like what is going on in the USA right now.

[@davidtrindle6473]

In the USA we never blame capitalists for inflation. We blame the government printing new money faster than productivity. Generally the US president gets blamed.

[@andreassandqvist5252]

Amazing video :) Didnt want it to end! Applauds from Norway :)

[@kennykentus2919]

It's quite unimaginable that only 120 yrs back ppl usually paid with golden coins like John Wick