'..consider the process of decline and disappearance of classical Roman civilization ..unfortunately most people have now forgotten or are completely unaware of that important history lesson; and as a result they fail to see the grave risks now facing our civilization..'<blockquote>'..let us consider the process of decline and disappearance of classical Roman civilization. Though its basic landmarks are easily extrapolated to many circumstances of our contemporary world, unfortunately most people have now forgotten or are completely unaware of that important history lesson; and as a result they fail to see the grave risks now facing our civilization. In fact, as I explain in detail in my classes (and summarize in a video of one of them, on the fall of the Roman Empire (
La Caída del Imperio Romano), which to my surprise has already been viewed on the Internet by almost 400,000 people in a little over a year), and according to prior studies by authors like Rostovtzeff (
The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire) and Mises (
Human Action), "what brought about the decline of the [Roman] empire and the decay of its civilization was the disintegration of this economic interconnectedness, not the barbarian invasions" (op. cit., p. 767).
..
..the advanced level of development spontaneously achieved by the Roman market process as early as the 1st century .. was characterized by a remarkable degree of institutional legal respect for private property (Roman law), and by the specialization and spread of exchanges in all sectors and factor markets (particularly the labor market, since, as Temin has demonstrated, the effect of slavery was much more modest that has been believed up to now). As a result, the Roman economy of the period reached a level of prosperity, economic development, urbanization, and culture that would not be seen again in the world until well into the 18th century.
..
It is true that we face many challenges, and that we could very easily become disheartened, and that freedom's foes lurk everywhere. But it is no less true that, in contrast with the culture of subsidies, irresponsibility, the lack of morals, and dependence on the state for everything, there is, surging from the ashes among many young people (and also among some of us who are no longer so young) the culture of entrepreneurial freedom, of creativity and risk taking, of behavior based on moral principles, and, in short, of maturity and responsibility (as opposed to the infantilism our authorities and politicians would restrict us to in order to make us increasingly servile and dependent). To me it is clear who has the best intellectual and moral weapons, and hence, who holds the future. That is why I am an optimist.'
- Jesús Huerta de Soto,
Socialism and Decivilization, August 23, 2012</blockquote>
'This gets to the heart of the issue I have with today’s monetary charlatans: They are content to completely ignore history, including the now 20-year sordid experience with contemporary “activist” central banking and resulting monetary inflations..'<blockquote>'History is littered with devastating monetary fiascos. I have shelves stacked with books that recount in lurid detail the havoc wrought from money and Credit-induced boom and bust dynamics. Each episode has its own nuances – i.e. differences in the nature of prevailing Credit instruments, financial institutions, leveraging methods, governmental oversight and responsibility, and varying market, economic and societal ill-effects. Yet in virtually all cases, the post-mortem was similarly unequivocal: the inflation of “money” (various monetary instruments) was understood as a root cause of booms that ended with great economic and social hardship. In most cases, there were aspects of an increasingly unwieldy escalation of money printing/debasement – along with, of course, all the attendant rationalizations, justifications and assurances.
..
This gets to the heart of the issue I have with today’s monetary charlatans: They are content to completely ignore history, including the now 20-year sordid experience with contemporary “activist” central banking and resulting monetary inflations. At this point, there is clearly no end point and certainly no “exit strategy.” They are experts supposedly with solutions, of course unwilling to admit that their policies have directly contributed to losses by millions upon millions of innocent victims around the world. They prescribe more potent doses of what we have already repeatedly witnessed ends in calamity. And somehow they have turned the monetary inflation debate upside down, intimating that it would be immoral and unethical to not keep printing.'
- Doug Noland (
Source, August 24, 2012)</blockquote>
Context<blockquote>
'..avoiding a “secondary depression,” or for preventing the severity of one..' - Jesús Huerta de Soto
A Balanced Approach For the Next 10 Years, 23 August, 2012</blockquote>