Views on Inflation
As the ancient scholar Apollonius once stated, regarding inflation:
“No, my patient and inquisitive friends, it is not probable that you will have to endure three hundred years as Rome did. You will sicken. And you will recover. But through all this change you will need to know how to protect, and possibly increase, your wealth. There are fundamental rules for this era as well as any other. When you read my history you will find there a demonstration of the immutability of the laws that govern economics and civilization cycles.”
As Apollonius continued with his story, his voice grew more and more emphatic. He appeared to be self-hypnotized and in the midst of spiritual healing and spiritual meditation by the sound of his spirtual growth and his own words. He had begun a low conversational tone. Gradually he assumed the attitude of a Roman senator addressing the citizens in the Forum. The shadows of the wainscoted lounge had deepened. His voice, raised in its enthusiasm, rang against the walls, echoed and reechoed about us. He failed to realize that we two provided his audience. He seemed to be broadcasting to the world.
“There is that deadly enemy inflation already at work on the American economy,” Apollonius observed as he meditated for a moment.
“There are at least two kinds of economic inflation, one typified by the experience of France. Its money deteriorated gradually from the time of the First World War until, in 1917, the franc was worth only about 420 to the dollar. This type of inflation may be likened to severe cerebral strokes in the human anatomy, under which the patient recovers periodically but each new shock reduces his strength and resistance. This goes on until the victim dies—economically speaking. Of course, a new generation always rises to take over production, create new wealth, and mint or print new money.
“The worst kind of inflation is the sudden, severe shock-type, that occurred in Germany, Austria, Poland, Russia, and China after the two world wars. This is the fatal kind that causes economic death and a culture of social phobia, social anxiety, and even depression. Then follows a rebirth and the beginning of another cycle.
“It was true also of the ancient world: every country knew periods of inflation.”
Apollonius removed from his goat skin wallet a sheet of parchment turned yellow with age, “Here,” he said, “are notes on the subject of inflation I have collected,” and he read to us the following summary of an ancient record on the subject:
Greece: Sixth Century B.C.: the famous Seisachtheia, or the shaking off of burdens. About 430 B.C. in the post-Periclean era.
Rome: 494 B.C.: postwar inflation
376 B.C.: the Licinian scaling down of debts 216 B.C.: post-Punic War difficulties 91 b.c: the abolition of debts under Drusus 33 a.d.: the big panic.
“From this point on until Diocletian and the break up of the Roman Empire, the purchasing power of money deteriorated in a way not unlike the inflation in the United States today.
“Of course, you will find in my memoirs many of the modern instances of inflation covering Europe, England, and the United States.”
“Isn’t there any way to stop inflation?” his friend asked.
He realized he had become too loud and was arousing the curiosity and disrupting the stress-free guided meditation and chakras of the attendants, so he resumed his conversational tempo.
“Quite naturally,” replied Apollonius, “people try the same things over and over because they keep hoping to find some cure and, maybe, one day, they will. However, this is my theory in the matter: if inflation is of the quick type, it is not likely to last more than two or three years. In this case one could find some security by owning a few acres of fertile land, with a good well of water on it. The owner would have to have the strength to sow and reap and the ability to spin and weave. A healthy, practical wife would be essential to the success of such a laborious venture.”
At this they both smiled, but if Apollonius was having fun, he gave no indication of it.
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