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Chapter 5 - Money Quantity and Quality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2020

Colin P. Elliott
Affiliation:
Indiana University, Bloomington
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Summary

The assumptions built into the quantity theory of money severely limit its usefulness for studying the Roman monetary system if not all pre-industrial monetary systems. Quantity theory fails to account for the complexity and disaggregated nature of the Roman monetary economy. This chapter, instead, disaggregates the workings of the monetary system by considering both money quantity and quality, the spatial and temporal properties of money and, finally, money’s value as a product of the subjective preferences of individuals. Instead of assuming money is neutral, Roman economic historians can and should examine the specific channels through which money entered the Roman economy. Depending upon the location of these channels in the larger political, cultural and social matrix, as well as the amount of money distributed through them, it may be possible to understand the human responses to money supply changes in the Roman world as well as the wider effects of these changes – effects which include not only price movements and the shifts in the structure of production but also realignments in social hierarchies.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Money Quantity and Quality
  • Colin P. Elliott, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Economic Theory and the Roman Monetary Economy
  • Online publication: 03 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108290531.006
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  • Money Quantity and Quality
  • Colin P. Elliott, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Economic Theory and the Roman Monetary Economy
  • Online publication: 03 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108290531.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Money Quantity and Quality
  • Colin P. Elliott, Indiana University, Bloomington
  • Book: Economic Theory and the Roman Monetary Economy
  • Online publication: 03 February 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108290531.006
Available formats
×