On Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:24:17 -0500, Axel > wrote:
>Currency in the New Era couldn't be backed by any resource because of the
>risk of a large quantity showing up and causing hyperinflation (like what
>happened to Spain at the height of its empire, iirc, with S. American gold
>and silver).
That's a bit oversimplified with respect to what happened to Spain; part
of the problem (but ONLY part) was that wealth was viewed as essentially
static, and only 'valuta39; - the concept of goods or services adding
wealth to a society or economy wasn't there; wealth was what you used to
buy the goods or services. The British and Dutch - and, in fact, most of
the other European states - 'got it' with respect to that a bit earlier,
and used any incoming 'valuta39; to invest in things like infrastructure,
trading ventures, shipbuilding, and so on that would have knock-on
effects for their economies, giving rise to the mercantile class and
what we would call 'middle-class labor'. That middle class never rose in
Spain because of their view of what wealth was, and that attitude got
exported to their colonial possessions.
(This has been discussed a bit in some of the "1632" conferences on
Baen's Bar.)
--
Jeff Zeitlin, Editor
Freelance Traveller
The Electronic Fan-Supported
Traveller® Fanzine and Resource
http://www.freelancetraveller.com
http://come.to/freelancetraveller
http://freelancetraveller.downport.com/
®Traveller is a registered trademark of
Far Future Enterprises, 1977-2009. Use of
the trademark in this notice and in the
referenced materials is not intended to
infringe or devalue the trademark.
Freelance Traveller extends its thanks to the following
enterprises for hosting services:
CyberNET Web Hosting (http://www.cyberwebhosting.net)
The Traveller Downport (http://www.downport.com)
>Currency in the New Era couldn't be backed by any resource because of the
>risk of a large quantity showing up and causing hyperinflation (like what
>happened to Spain at the height of its empire, iirc, with S. American gold
>and silver).
That's a bit oversimplified with respect to what happened to Spain; part
of the problem (but ONLY part) was that wealth was viewed as essentially
static, and only 'valuta39; - the concept of goods or services adding
wealth to a society or economy wasn't there; wealth was what you used to
buy the goods or services. The British and Dutch - and, in fact, most of
the other European states - 'got it' with respect to that a bit earlier,
and used any incoming 'valuta39; to invest in things like infrastructure,
trading ventures, shipbuilding, and so on that would have knock-on
effects for their economies, giving rise to the mercantile class and
what we would call 'middle-class labor'. That middle class never rose in
Spain because of their view of what wealth was, and that attitude got
exported to their colonial possessions.
(This has been discussed a bit in some of the "1632" conferences on
Baen's Bar.)
--
Jeff Zeitlin, Editor
Freelance Traveller
The Electronic Fan-Supported
Traveller® Fanzine and Resource
http://www.freelancetraveller.com
http://come.to/freelancetraveller
http://freelancetraveller.downport.com/
®Traveller is a registered trademark of
Far Future Enterprises, 1977-2009. Use of
the trademark in this notice and in the
referenced materials is not intended to
infringe or devalue the trademark.
Freelance Traveller extends its thanks to the following
enterprises for hosting services:
CyberNET Web Hosting (http://www.cyberwebhosting.net)
The Traveller Downport (http://www.downport.com)