Inflation and debasement

[Sankara0528]

Did the Emperors of the second half of the Empire have an idea about the concept of inflation? Did they realize what consequences debasement had when they did it, or were they just in a rush to pay soldiers/public expenses and thought it worth?

Also, what are some good books on the economy of the Roman Empire, the concept fascinates me a lot.

[Novosedoff]

According to Andrew Movchan, the inflation was rather stable around 3%, but it all started to change by the end of 2nd century AD when the prices of metropolitan center had risen by 5 times in just 10-15 years. It all came to the point when official Roman currency devaluated so the colonies even started to use other currencies instead. I may add a couple book sources later.

Edited October 24, 2021 by Novosedoff

[Novosedoff]

http://www.rmki.kfki.hu/~lukacs/ROMLAS.htm

 

 

[guy]

 

Here are two excellent videos on Roman inflation and coin debasement.

 

 

 

[guy]

Here’s a good article about debasement of coinage in Nero’s reign:

Quote

 

“During Nero’s reign the empire suffered a fiscal crisis starting around A.D. 62, stemming from costly conflicts in Britian and Armenia, along with natural disasters and other factors. This crisis worsened during the great fire of Rome in A.D. 64, when a large part of the capital was destroyed and the expense to rebuild was enormous.

To deal with this new financial pressure, Nero began to produce imperial copper and brass coinage, which had not been struck in quantity for nearly two decades. He also precipitously decreased the intrinsic value of his precious metal coinage. The weight of the aureus dropped by about 2% (to 45 aurei per Roman pound) and the denarius by about 7% (to 96 denarii per Roman pound).“

 

https://www.ngccoin.com/news/article/9477/

Edited February 2 by guy