The Cobra Effect Podcast

Episode 06 Part 02 – Emperor Diocletian’s price control… on camel hair? The public games.

In this second part, we continue our journey 1,700 years back to the Roman Empire, when Emperor Diocletian tried to curb inflation and, to that end, enacted the Edict on Maximum Prices in AD 301.  This is a long eight-part episode covering the three hundred years of the Early Roman Empire, also known as the Principate. Through this series, we will learn in detail how the Roman State operated during this time and how, as public expenses rose and sources of revenue declined, debasement and inflation followed. In the previous and first part, we saw in detail the Cura Annonae, the state-sponsored free food distribution program. In this second part today, we will talk about the expenditure on public games, the ludi. We will explore the types and examples of both public festivals and the public games they were associated with, the infrastructure the empire built to provide such spectacles, and the cost this all represented to the imperial coffers. As a general trend, we will see how the ludi increased in number and degree of lavishness. In the third part, we will discuss two other imperial expenses: handouts as gifts in cash and public construction works. In the fourth episode, we continue exploring the remaining expenditure items: the state bureaucracy and the largest expense of all, the military. In the fifth part, we will touch on whether the Roman Empire could finance these public expenses through public debt and whether the empire lost or gained money through trade. We will also talk about the short-term or unpredictable sources of revenue to cover these expenses. I am referring to mining, the spoils of war, and confiscations from the wealthy elite. Later, in the sixth and seventh parts, we will see the subjects of taxes and treasuries, respectively, as they were long-term or more predictable sources of revenue. Finally, in the eighth and last part, we will talk about debasement, inflation, Diocletian’s Edict on Maximum Prices, and why it failed.    Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecobraeffectpodcast] Thank you for listening. For additional information and social media links, you can visit https://www.thecobraeffectpodcast.com You can support the show on Buy Me a Coffee or become a monthly member. Links on the website. You help me to cover my costs, and your contribution keeps this project going. Feel free to reach out via social media or email. The email address is contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com [contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com] I would appreciate hearing your questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics. See you in two weeks for another episode of The Cobra Effect Podcast.

Episode 06 Part 01 – Emperor Diocletian’s price control… on camel hair? The Cura Annonae.

In this first part, we travel 1,700 years to the Roman Empire. The emperor Diocletian tried to curb inflation and, to this end, issued the Edict on Maximum Prices in AD 301. It was a detailed list, trying to control 1,400 prices and salaries, including products like camel hair, vulture feathers, and loincloths. But there is more: prices of loincloths for first, second, and third quality.   But why did Diocletian need to be so detailed? Why would a man who claimed to be the son of the god Jupiter be concerned with the price of camel hair? Because inflation was a disease killing the empire. This is a long eight-part episode covering the three hundred years of the Early Roman Empire, also known as the Principate. Through this series, we will learn in detail how the Roman State worked for the three hundred years of the Early Empire, and how, as public expenses kept increasing and the sources of revenue kept decreasing, debasement and inflation followed. Today, we will see one of the public expenditure programs that led to inflation. We will go into detail today to learn about the free distribution of food in the empire: its origins, some numbers to put in perspective the colossal effort it represented, how it expanded over time to more than just grain and to more than just the city of Rome, and finally, how it all ended. In the second part in two weeks, we will discuss the imperial expenditure on public spectacles, which was also an important part of daily life in the city of Rome and the empire. In the third part, we will discuss two other imperial expenses: handouts as gifts in cash and public construction works. In the fourth episode, we continue exploring the remaining expenditure items: the state bureaucracy and the largest expense of all, the military. In the fifth part, we will touch on whether the Roman Empire could finance these public expenses through public debt and whether the empire lost or gained money through trade. We will also talk about the short-term or unpredictable sources of revenue to cover these expenses. I am referring to mining, the spoils of war, and confiscations from the wealthy elite. Later, in the sixth and seventh parts, we will see the subjects of taxes and treasuries, respectively, as they were long-term or more predictable sources of revenue. Finally, in the eighth and last part, we will talk about debasement, inflation, Diocletian’s Edict on Maximum Prices, and why it failed.    Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecobraeffectpodcast] Thank you for listening. For additional information and social media links, you can visit https://www.thecobraeffectpodcast.com You can support the show on Buy Me a Coffee or become a monthly member. Links on the website. You help me to cover my costs, and your contribution keeps this project going. Feel free to reach out via social media or email. The email address is contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com [contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com] I would appreciate hearing your questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics. See you in two weeks for another episode of The Cobra Effect Podcast.

Episode 05 – Luxury taxes... on the working class?

In this episode, we first travel 2,000 years to the Roman Empire to see how they taxed luxury goods. Then we travel to the United States of the 90s to see how the Luxury Tax, approved by Congress in 1990, backfired. After that, we will check on how things are going in Canada, just two weeks ago, to see how we learn nothing from past mistakes. And finally, we will go back to the Roman Empire. All of this while trying to understand fundamental economic concepts such as direct and indirect taxes, progressive and regressive taxation, elastic and inelastic supply and demand, and tax incidence. Tax incidence is the key concept for today's episode.  Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecobraeffectpodcast] Thank you for listening. For additional information and social media links, you can visit https://www.thecobraeffectpodcast.com You can support the show on Buy Me a Coffee or become a monthly member. Links on the website. You help me to cover my costs, and your contribution keeps this project going. Feel free to reach out via social media or email. The email address is contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com [contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com] I would appreciate hearing your questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics. See you in two weeks for another episode of The Cobra Effect Podcast.

Episode 04 – The death of the ancient Sumerian gods and their revival… in Iceland?

In this episode, we first travel more than 4,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia, mostly modern-day Iraq. I will first describe the slow death of the Sumerian gods, and in the second half of the episode, their revival as an unintended consequence of Iceland’s tax system. Yes, cold and windy Iceland.   A necessary note: this episode is not about the Anunnaki, as popular as that subject may be. Also, talking about the disappearance of the Sumerian religion is talking about thousands of years of Mesopotamian history with its peoples, cities, and rising and falling empires. I will do my best to summarize this, and if you have ever been intrigued by the evolution of this region in ancient times, you will certainly enjoy this first part of the episode.      Although two suspicious brothers are involved in the story, the unintended consequence of Iceland’s religious tax was the revival of a religion long forgotten from faraway foreign lands. Perhaps the ancient Sumerian gods Enlil and Inanna were not offered proper ritual this time, but, somehow, they came to life in the Icelandic Zuist Church. Coming from Southern Iraq, I bet they expect to reappear next time in a warmer climate.   Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecobraeffectpodcast] Thank you for listening. For additional information and social media links, you can visit https://www.thecobraeffectpodcast.com You can support the show on Buy Me a Coffee or become a monthly member. Links on the website. You help me to cover my costs, and your contribution keeps this project going. Feel free to reach out via social media or email. The email address is contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com [contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com] I would appreciate hearing your questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics. See you in two weeks for another episode of The Cobra Effect Podcast.

Episode 03 – The utopian town of New Harmony… not harmonious?

In this episode, we first travel 2,400 years back to ancient Athens, where the playwright Aristophanes satirizes the notion of communal property leading to reliance on slaves. But the central theme of the episode is the town of New Harmony, in Indiana, United States. Founded in 1825 by Robert Owen, a Welsh reformer and philanthropist, his idea was to create a society without poverty or individualism through the collective sharing of property and production. Despite initial optimism, New Harmony collapsed by 1828 due to inefficiency, scarcity, and mismanagement, mirroring later 20th-century communist failures. Owen’s vision of equal remuneration regardless of contribution led to low productivity, surveillance, and punishment of dissent, as noted by his son Robert Dale and others. Historical parallels in other places of the United States in the 19th century, including Étienne Cabet’s Icarian communities and Brook Farm, further illustrate the recurring failure of such collectivist experiments. Aristotle’s ancient critique in “Politics” underscores this, arguing that shared property receives minimal care —a lesson reiterated by New Harmony’s demise, which highlights the unintended consequences of utopian collectivism. For a full list of sources and other relevant links, please see the Full Transcript of this episode. Support the show [https://www.buymeacoffee.com/thecobraeffectpodcast] Thank you for listening. For additional information and social media links, you can visit https://www.thecobraeffectpodcast.com You can support the show on Buy Me a Coffee or become a monthly member. Links on the website. You help me to cover my costs, and your contribution keeps this project going. Feel free to reach out via social media or email. The email address is contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com [contact@thecobraeffectpodcast.com] I would appreciate hearing your questions, comments, or suggestions for future topics. See you in two weeks for another episode of The Cobra Effect Podcast.