The Empire’s Last Illusion — “This Time is Different”

It wasn’t true for Rome. It wasn’t true for Britain. It won’t be true for the dollar.

Rome didn’t collapse in a single day. There was no single morning where everyone woke up and said, “This is the end.” It happened slowly, quietly, and then all at once.

One of the most corrosive forces behind that decline was something almost invisible at first — currency debasement.

For centuries, the denarius — Rome’s silver coin — held real value. You …