The Paper Chase Part II ©Copyright June 1988 The Panic of 1869, which caused gold to rally significantly, was in itself a sign to the government that paper money would not win the affections and confidence of the people just yet – this would take time. The question of what was actually money remained an […]

  ©Copyright June 1988 The story of paper money goes back a long way. One could argue that its first emergence was even before 2500BC in Bablyon. For the sake of convienence, banking transactions took place in the form of a clay tablet which served as a “letter or credit.” While such forms of money […]

Part IV of IV—A Brief History of World Credit & Interest Rates by Martin A. Armstrong ©Copyright PEI  1700-Date As with most wars, noble motives are usually portrayed in some slogan that attempts to hide the true underlying financial incentives. The English Crown’s attempt to control and prevent irresponsible paper money issues among the Colonies, […]

Part III of IV—A Brief History of World Credit & Interest Rates by Martin A. Armstrong ©Copyright PEI  1690 – 1774 AD The eighteenth century was a period of strong economic and political growth for Britain. Constitutional parliamentary government, which had replaced the monarchy, appeared to foster great national expansion. The currency of Britain remained […]

Part II of IV—A Brief History of World Credit & Interest Rates by Martin A. Armstrong ©Copyright PEI  500 AD-1700 AD The fate of the Roman Empire of the West had been cast with the sack of Rome in 410 AD by the Goths followed by the Vandals in 455 AD. What was once Rome […]

Part I of IV—A Brief History of World Credit & Interest Rates by Martin A. Armstrong ©Copyright PEI  3000 BC – 500 AD—The Rise and Fall of Babylon – Greece – Rome Credit is usually thought of as a modern invention of perhaps only a few hundred years old. It is true that a few […]

Arcadius 383-408 AD Flavius Arcadius is the eldest son of Theodosius I (379-395 AD) and Aelia Flaccilla. He was born in 377 AD and was raised to the rank of Augustus by his father in 383 AD. His first true encounter with power came when his father marched against Arbogastes in 394 AD. Theodosius died […]

The Monetary History of the Imperial Rome Chapter V By Martin A. Armstrong Following the death of Constantius II in 360 AD, the empire fell into the hands of the last heir of Constantine The Great – Julian II (360-363 AD) . Julian also instituted economic and governmental reforms as well as religious reforms due […]

The Monetary History of the Imperial Rome Chapter I By Martin A. Armstrong Following the death of Julius Caesar and the conclusion of the final civil war of the period, the emergence of a major monetary reform under Augustus changed forever the monetary system of Rome. It is with Augustus that we find a complete […]

Florianus 276 AD Half-brother of Tacitus Marcus Annins Florianus is said to have been the half-brother of Tacitus, and upon his death, Florianus, Prefect of the Praetorian Guard at the time, assumed the throne with the support of the Senate. Florianus immediately set out to deal with the troublesome tribe of the Heruli. While on […]