This event is part of the Winter Term 2024 Vinson Centre Seminar Series in the Classical Political Economy Tradition.

Dr. George Maher, Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, invites you to look at the Roman Empire from an angle it has not been looked at from before. Uniquely he combines a deep understanding of the history of the period with a deep knowledge of modern and ancient finances.

The Roman Empire remains one of mankind’s outstanding political and economic achievements. It was a world of free trade and private prosperity where individuals could make and keep great fortunes. Private enterprise fuelled a great increase in material wealth, and the state-built infrastructure in public-private partnership. The rights of the individual were protected in a common law, and a contract entered into in London was as good there as in Rome. A single and well-managed currency was used across the Empire, and throughout the trading area that extended beyond its borders, to India and further afield.

Much of this was not equalled until the middle of the nineteenth century.

This is the story of a society with great self-belief, creating a prosperity never seen before. It is also a story of the monetary mismanagement which led to the Great Stagnation, a collapse that lasted one thousand and five hundred years.

The talk will be hosted by the Institute of Economic Affairs at the IEA office at 2 Lord North Street, SW1P3LB, Westminster.

To register, please click here.