Ancient Rome: The silver denarius once held over 90% silver. By the 3rd century CE, it contained less than 5%. Inflation soared, trade faltered, and confidence collapsed, contributing to Rome’s economic decline.
China, 13th century: The Yuan dynasty pioneered paper money. Initially backed by silver, the government later printed excessive notes without restraint. Trust evaporated, prices skyrocketed, and paper currency was abandoned for centuries.
Weimar Germany, 1920s: Facing war reparations, the government printed marks at breakneck speed. Hyperinflation made wages worthless overnight — workers were paid twice a day so they could spend before prices doubled.
Zimbabwe, 2000s: Political turmoil and reckless printing led to inflation peaking at an estimated 79.6 billion percent per month. The Zimbabwe dollar became so worthless that trillion-dollar notes were issued — and still couldn’t buy bread.
Venezuela, 2010s: Oil dependency and mismanagement led to uncontrolled money printing. The bolívar lost almost all value, pushing citizens into barter, U.S. dollars, or crypto just to survive.
USA, 20??s: ………….