(...) i sumeri non conoscevano le monete, che sarebbero state inventate tremila anni dopo, ma sapevano benissimo cosa fosse un credito (...) se il mercante sumero A voleva comprare una capra dal mercante B ma non aveva niente da dargli emetteva un titolo di debito. Usando la scrittura cuneiforme, incideva un segno particolare su una tavoletta di terracotta che poi consegnava a B. Quest'ultimo non conservava a lungo la tavoletta, che dava invece al mercante C per procurarsi, per esempio, due sacchi d'orzo. Ben presto le tavolette di terracotta presero a circolare nell'economia sumera come una forma primordiale di banconote e diventarono un mezzo di pagamento. Così fu inventato il denaro (…) e già da allora si notò che i debiti si accumulavano, aumentando più in fretta del benessere finché la catena non si spezzava. (…)
E poi? Poi il sovrano compariva di fronte al popolo, come successe per esempio nel 2402 avanti Cristo, quando il re sumero Enmetena fece leggere una dichiarazione e annunciò L'amargi, la libertà. L'amargi per i debitori implicava che le tavolette di terracotta venivano distrutte e tutti i debiti dimenticati. Così il denaro poteva riprendere a circolare, creando nuovo benessere per mezzo di nuovi prestiti.
Tratto da Internazionale nr° 971 (19/25 ottobre 2012) articolo di Wolfang Uchatius, Die Zeit, Germania
(...) The Sumerians did not know the coins, which were invented after three thousand years, but they knew very well what was a credit (...) if the merchant A wanted to buy a goat from merchant B but had nothing to give in return, he issued a debt. Using cuneiform writing, accounted a particular sign on a tablet of clay which he delivered to B. The merchant B did not keep the tablet for a long time, he gave it instead to the merchant C, to obtain, for example, two sacks of barley. Soon the clay tablets began to circulate in the economy Sumerian as an early form of banknotes and became a way to pay. Thus was invented the money (...) and even then it was noticed that the debts piled up, increasing faster than the well-being until the chain was broken. (...)
And then what? Then the king appeared before the people, as happened for example in 2402 BC, when the Sumerian king Enmetena ordered him to read a statement and announced the amargi, freedom. The amargi for debtors implied that clay tablets were destroyed and all debts forgotten. So the money could continue to circulate, creating new wealth through new loans.
Taken from Internazionale n ° 971 (19/25 October 2012) article by Wolfgang Uchatius, Die Zeit, Germany
(...) The Sumerians did not know the coins, which were invented after three thousand years, but they knew very well what was a credit (...) if the merchant A wanted to buy a goat from merchant B but had nothing to give in return, he issued a debt. Using cuneiform writing, accounted a particular sign on a tablet of clay which he delivered to B. The merchant B did not keep the tablet for a long time, he gave it instead to the merchant C, to obtain, for example, two sacks of barley. Soon the clay tablets began to circulate in the economy Sumerian as an early form of banknotes and became a way to pay. Thus was invented the money (...) and even then it was noticed that the debts piled up, increasing faster than the well-being until the chain was broken. (...)
And then what? Then the king appeared before the people, as happened for example in 2402 BC, when the Sumerian king Enmetena ordered him to read a statement and announced the amargi, freedom. The amargi for debtors implied that clay tablets were destroyed and all debts forgotten. So the money could continue to circulate, creating new wealth through new loans.
Taken from Internazionale n ° 971 (19/25 October 2012) article by Wolfgang Uchatius, Die Zeit, Germany
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