Interesting thought exercise:<p>If you took $1 in year zero, and invested it in an interest-bearing instrument which yielded 2% annually, you would have $213,474,546,813,934,272 today. This does not take inflation into account :).<p>No interest-paying instrument survived that long. It almost makes you think that period devaluations are a must-have.
Putting your money in someone else's hands was probably a lot riskier in those days, and that is priced into the interest rate. If there's a real chance a passing army or crooked king might walk in and take your money, you need to be better compensated.
from the article one might conclude the rate is "naturally" 20%, and on artificially inflated environments (eg Roman empire, big wars' aftermath) it gets lower than 2%
Terrible, terrible arrangement of ads alongside, and hilarious chart in article graphic.<p>Read this instead.<p>[<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Debt-The-First-000-Years/dp/1612191290" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Debt-The-First-000-Years/dp/1612191290</a>]
the generation of americans that were in their earning prime years during the late 70s and the 80s were the lucky ones...and their kids are lucky, too. Those earners in that time frame were able to stash their earnings into nearly risk-free certificates, which over the years increased and doubled and doubled again. And now their children are inheriting that money.<p>We may never see the like of that financial boon again, at least not here in america.<p>Economic growth here in america now depends on population growth. And since americans are not having many children, the establishment is looking to bring in people from outside in order to obtain growth. However, some americans don't want this. It is the establishment vs the american majority on whether america will return to growth via population importation or whether we will go the way of japan. This is the new war.