Money As Debt

A short history of currencies

The pound was a unit of currency as early as 775AD in Anglo-Saxon England, equivalent to 1 pound weight of silver. This was a vast fortune in the 8th century.

928
Athelstan, the first King of England adopted sterling as the first national currency. He set up mints around the country to supply the growing nation. One pound could buy you 15 cows. For more than 700 years this currency served peaceful social purposes.

1694
England's naval defeat by France in the 1690 Battle of Beachy Head led to King William III establishing the Bank of England to fund his continued war with France. When head(s) of governments embrace warfare for loot and glory currency for peaceful transactions becomes corrupted. £1.2m was raised in 12 days; half of this was used to rebuild the navy.

1717
The United Kingdom defined sterling's value in terms of gold rather than silver for the first time.

Sir Isaac Newton, as Master of the Mint, set the gold price of £4.25 per fine ounce that lasted two hundred years, except during the Napoleonic wars when gold cash payments were suspended.

1800s
The official gold standard came in when Germany adopted it, encouraging mass international trade for the first time. The idea was that a nation must back its money in circulation with the equivalent in gold reserves.

1914
The United Kingdom suspended the gold standard in 1914 so it could support its war efforts.

The country borrowed heavily and suffered high inflation during World War I. It was forced to devalue the pound considerably towards the end of the war.

Do you perceive a pattern here? What ought to be the rightful role of government?