The Emperor Who Tried to Bring Sound Economics Back to Rome – and Paid With His Life

August 17, 2023

by Larry Reed GoldSeek

History records countless examples of currency debasement, i.e., the steady reduction in a money’s precious metal content or “backing” (principally gold or silver), followed in modern times by the introduction of fiat (unbacked) paper money, which then depreciates as governments print more and more of it to buy votes, run budget deficits, and spend like tomorrow doesn’t matter.

It’s a sad story that dates back at least as far as the prophet Isaiah, who condemned his ancient Israelite compatriots for turning their silver coinage into “dross.” (See Isaiah 1:22.)

The dollar was “as good as gold” when Woodrow Wilson commenced America’s monetary deterioration in 1913. In December of that year, he signed into law the Federal Reserve Act, which reduced the paper dollar’s “gold cover” to 40 percent. It also created a central bank that would go on to cause the Great Depression and a string of recessions as it steadily inflated away at least 90 percent of the dollar’s 1913 value.