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Some background on brutality of ancient wars before diving into Viking history – 1 of 2

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Viking warrior with sword standing near Drakkar on the seashore. I think that is an ax on his belt. Raiding has paid off well since he is illustrated wearing chain mail. Longboat in background, which was shock and awe stealth technology in the 9th and 10th centuries. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

I’m going to take a look at finances of the Viking era, similar to what I’ve done on legionnaires during the Roman Empire and the plunder gathered by Alexander the Great. There isn’t a lot of information available, but I’ll look at some I was able to find.

The Viking era has recently captured my interest, leading me to read a fair amount on the history of the times.

This is the first time I have dived deep into the adventures of the Norwegians, Danes, and Swedes back then.

My paternal grandfather and grandmother both emigrated from Norway, settling in South Dakota before meeting each other, marrying, and starting a large family.

So it is appropriate to dive into my ancient legacy, later in life though it may be than for most of my cousins.

Why a series of posts on finance in the Viking world? Because I want to.

One of the things I learned early on in blogging is that a person should write on what is of interest. An audience will develop or not, but cannot be predicted. Thus, a blogger should write on what is of interest.

Why post this discussion on this blog? Because this is where I write of accounting issues and it is a short jump into financial issues such banking in general because I am interested in banking and finance. From there is a very short trip to the wide, ever expanding world of banking fiascos. From there, it is possible to jump back a couple of millenniums to ancient finances of Rome and Alexander. From Rome it is merely a few centuries forward to the Vikings. All of that fits within a blog on accounting.

Before I get started

One of the aspects of the Viking era that jumps out is the violence and the widespread plundering.

Several accounts I’ve read say that capturing slaves on raids and selling them into the Arab worlds was more lucrative that making off with all the gold and silver you can find and the loot you can carry.

The ancient world was astoundingly violent.

I’d like to offer two of many possible illustrations.

Roman destruction of Jerusalem

In 70 A.D. the Roman Empire laid siege to Jerusalem, sacked it, and destroyed the entire city, killing essentially everyone crowded behind the city wall at the time. The euphemism is that apart from one wall and one tower, there was not so much as one stone left on top of another anywhere in the city.

The wall and tower were left so that for centuries to come, everyone can see this is what will be left if you go too far in irritating Rome.

Remember forever: Rome did this.

Don’t. Mess. With. Rome.

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Some background on brutality of ancient wars before diving into Viking history – 1 of 2Read More »

Some background on brutality of ancient wars before diving into Viking history – 1 of 2 Read More »

An indication of Persian wealth from the book of Esther

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Drawing of Persian daric gold coin. Alexander would have looted tons of these. Image courtesy of Adobe stock.
Drawing of Persian daric gold coin. Alexander would have looted tons of these. Image courtesy of Adobe stock.

The number two man in the Persian Empire offered a bribe of 10,000 talents to the king in return for permission to kill off all the Jews living under the authority of the king. Today’s question: what would the amount of that bribe be worth in today’s money?

The Old Testament book of Esther tells the story of Haman plotting to kill all the Jews living in the Persian Empire.  Esther then told King Xerxes about the plot. The King executed Haman and allowed the Jews to defend themselves from those planning to exterminate them. The Jews survived. Those who expected to slaughter them did not. That is the short version. For the full details, check out the book of Esther.

Hers is a wonderful story of realizing God put you in a place to do a job that only you can do. So many other delightful and encouraging aspects of the story. If you haven’t looked at it lately, check it out.

There is one particular verse in the story which overlaps my discussion of Alexander the Great looting the Persian Empire. …

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An indication of Persian wealth from the book of Esther Read More »

Total wealth held by American households as reference point for ancient finances

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There is a lot of wealth visible in all those homes. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock.
There is a lot of wealth visible in all those homes. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock.

Here is another point of reference I’ll use for my discussion of ancient finances. The Wall Street Journal reported on 6/7/16:  Americans’ Total Wealth Hits Record, According to Federal Reserve Report.

Want to add this additional frame of reference before getting back to looking at Alexander’s haul as he looted various Persian cities.

The Fed released an estimate of the total wealth of all Americans for the first quarter 2016, which includes individuals and nonprofits.

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Total wealth held by American households as reference point for ancient finances Read More »

Stock market capitalization as reference point for ancient finances

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Street sign for Wall Street and Broad Street, the heart of the Financial District of New York City. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Street sign for Wall Street and Broad Street, the heart of the Financial District of New York City. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

I am building some reference points for my ongoing learning about ancient finances. (If you couldn’t tell, I’m have a lot of fun. This learnin’ thing is cool.)

Here is the value of all the stock listed on the market in the G-20 economies. This is the total capitalization of the companies in those countries.

Data is from this site. A lot of other sources could be used and other years might give different results. The accuracy of the valuation of Alexander’s loot is only accurate to one or two significant digits. The needed estimates and assumptions will leave any comparisons accurate to only one significant digit. Actually, by the time my calculations are finished, the amounts will probably be accurate to maybe overestimating 20% or perhaps underestimating by 100% or 200%.

Thus, more precision in the market capitalizations is irrelevant.

Amounts are in US dollars and are for 2012: …

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Stock market capitalization as reference point for ancient finances Read More »

So, how can we compare today’s wages with 100 years or 2,300 years ago?

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What does that tetradrachm from Alexander the Great representing pay for two days of a skilled construction worker represent today? Image courtesy Adobe Stock.
What does that tetradrachm, from the era of Alexander the Great, representing pay for two days of a skilled construction worker, represent today? Image courtesy Adobe Stock.

The following numbers are based on purchasing power parity, which is a tool economists use to compare countries across currencies and across time.

Average income across the planet is now $33 a day, which is also about equal to average income in Brazil today or in the US back in 1941.

Income in places like the US and Sweden are 3 or 4 times the planet average.

Average income per person was about $3 a day from about 1800 all the way back until humans first appeared on the planet.  Dr. McCloskey says daily income sometimes in some places rose to $6 or $8 for a while but slipped back to the $3 range.

For illustration of what $3 per day looks like, consider Haiti or Afghanistan. In those two places, the current PPP income is $3.

So where does that leave us for a comparison? Consider this purchasing power parity analysis.

  • $3 – For all of history until about 1800 average daily income was about $3.
  • $33 – Today average income is about $33 in Brazil or a worldwide average.
  • $132 – Today average income in the US and Sweden is 3 or 4 times higher than the world average. The specific days point is $132 a day in the US in 2011.

Going from $3 to $132 is an increase by a factor of 44.

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So, how can we compare today’s wages with 100 years or 2,300 years ago?Read More »

So, how can we compare today’s wages with 100 years or 2,300 years ago? Read More »

How much has our economic wellbeing improved from that our of distant ancestors?

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A view of economic progress. Ponder the productivity improvement and resulting increase in wealth to go from this:

Image courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com
Image courtesy of DollarPhotoClub.com

To this:

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.

The overall standard of living has increased by a factor of somewhere between 30 and 100 in the last 200 years.

The little side trip in this post and the next will lead me back to my discussion of ancient finances in general and Alexander’s haul from his military campaigns in particular.

Writing in Bourgeois Equality: How Ideas, Not Capital or Institutions, Enriched the World, Professor Deirdre McCloskey says it this way:

..in the two centuries after 1800 the trade-tested goods and services available to the average person in Sweden or Taiwan rose by a factor of 30 or 100. Not 100 percent, understand— a mere doubling— but in its highest estimate a factor of 100, nearly 10,000 percent, and at least a factor of 30, or 2,900 percent. The Great Enrichment of the past two centuries has dwarfed any of the previous and temporary enrichments.

Let me phrase that another way. The value of what is enjoyed today by an average person is roughly equal to what 30 or 100 people had two centuries ago. That means the constant dollar value of what is consumed and enjoyed has grown by a factor of somewhere between 30 and 100.

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How much has our economic wellbeing improved from that our of distant ancestors?Read More »

How much has our economic wellbeing improved from that our of distant ancestors? Read More »

Value of 1 ancient Greek drachma and 1 Athenian Talent

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Image: Flickr by Carole Raddato
Image: Flickr by Carole Raddato

Image: Courtesy of Flickr by Carole Raddato

If you are curious and want to follow along, I’ll be spending a bit of time looking at some details of ancient finance.

If you are already somewhat familiar, feel free to either roll your eyes as I flounder along or chuckle on how slow I am to catch on. If your knowledge of ancient finances is comparable to mine, that is to say approximately zero, please feel free to join me on a journey to learn a few details.

Wikipedia has some information about the Greek drachma which seems plausible. Will also mention some comment by Prof. Holt.

Comparable value

Article in Wikipedia says some economists and historians say one drachma in the 5th century (let me do a mental calculation – – that would be from about 499BC to 401BC) was about US$25 in 1990 or US$46.50 in 2015.

Classical historians give a different read for the 5th and 4th centuries (okay, mental math time, so that would be from around 499BC to 301BC, the 400s and 300s). In that time, one drachma would be around one days wages for a skilled worker or a hoplite. So that would not be minimum wage, but more along the line of a carpenter or mason.

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Value of 1 ancient Greek drachma and 1 Athenian Talent Read More »