Money Without Boundaries

Chapter 4The Denationalization of Money

“I do not think that it is an exaggeration to say that history is largely a history of inflation, and usually of inflations engineered by governments and for the gain of governments.”

– Friedrich Hayek

During a recent trip to Paris, I went to two museums in one day. The Crypte Archeologique de Notre-Dame is a sprawling archaeological dig that provides fascinating insights into Parisian living from Gallo-Roman times (27 BC to 14 AD) through the twentieth century. As I wandered through the crypt under the square in front of Notre Dame checking out relics from 2,000 years of architectural and cultural evolution, I was struck by the stunning number of exhibits in that museum centered around money and coins. Gold coins were not only currency throughout the centuries, but they also helped people date different events throughout time. Their progressions and debasements mark the march of history.

Next, I visited the Musee d'Orsay, which undoubtedly has the world's largest and best collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces by painters including Oscar-Claude Monet, Edouard Manet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, and Vincent Van Gogh. Seeing all their works together made it crystal clear how much Renoir inspired Monet, and in fact how all the artists fed off each other to create and drive the Impressionist movement. The painters steadily built off of the huge legacy left by the painters who came before ...