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Can the US Defy Universal Economic Truths?
Simon Black | Sovereign Man
Sovereign Valley Farm, Chile
In the early 16th century, a priest by the name of Fray Francisco de Ugalde remarked to his king that Spain was “el imperio en el que nunca se pone el sol”.
In other words, the sun never set on the Spanish Empire.
And by the 1500s with its vast lands across the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and even the South Pacific, Spain (technically the House of Habsburg) had become the first truly global superpower.
The Empire’s status was so great that its silver coin (the real de ocho or piece of 8) was used around the world as a global reserve standard… including in the US colonies.
It didn’t last.
Like so many great empires that came before, Spain was beset by unsustainable spending, constant warfare, debilitating debt, and an inflated money supply.
By the mid 1500s, the Spanish government was spending 2/3 of its total tax revenue just to pay interest. Spain defaulted on its debt six times in the next century.
It finally came to an end on today’s date in 1643, exactly 371 years ago.
Historians can literally circle the date on a calendar that Spain ceased being Europe’s dominant superpower; it was the day that Spain lost the Battle of Rocroi, and effectively the Thirty Years War against France.
Just days before, a four-year old Louis XIV had ascended to the throne to become the King of France after the death of his father.
And during his whopping 72-year reign, France replaced Spain as the global superpower.
(To put this reign in context, the longest serving monarch alive today is King Bhumibol of Thailand, who at age 86 has served for 67 years. At age 88, Queen Elizabeth has served for 62 years.)
For more than a century, commerce, art, and technology flourished in France. And some of the greatest intellectual minds in history published their works during this period.
Source: http://truthisscary.com/2014/05/can-the-us-defy-universal-economic-truths/
