Michael Pollak wrote: "The part of this that is really true is that in ancient times, debts had nothing to do with intermediation. They were owed directly by the workers to the aristocrats or the state. So when debts were forgiven, the aristocrats took a hit, but the effect on the real economy was all good, and immediate. It was literally a no-brainer. All you needed was power."
I'm not sure of your time reference, but if I followed this, you are quite wrong. The debtors were almost ALWAYS Aristocrats. That's why Plato thought the state ought not to enforce debt collection: he favored aristocrats over money-lenders.
Carrol
^^^^ CB: This makes a lot of sense, because the masses didn't have money. There was no mass currency, no ?