0:01 Governments love to tell you they're
0:03 working for your financial freedom. They
0:05 talk about stability, growth,
0:07 opportunity. But if you look closely at
0:08 history, you'll see something much
0:10 darker. Governments have always used
0:12 hidden financial tricks to keep ordinary
0:14 people broke while consolidating wealth
0:16 and power for themselves. And the
0:18 shocking part is that these tricks are
0:20 not new. They've been recycled for
0:21 centuries, wrapped in different
0:23 packaging, sold under new names, but
0:25 always with the same purpose, to
0:26 transfer wealth upward and keep the
0:28 majority dependent. Let's start with the
0:30 oldest and simplest trick of all,
0:33 inflation. When a government spends more
0:35 than it can raise through taxes, it has
0:37 two options. It can admit the truth and
0:39 tax its citizens openly, which is
0:41 politically dangerous, or it can quietly
0:43 debase the currency, reducing the value
0:45 of every coin and every note in
0:47 circulation. Ancient Rome mastered this
0:50 tactic. In the 3rd century after Christ,
0:52 emperors facing military expenses began
0:54 reducing the silver content of the
0:56 daenerius. A coin that once contained
0:58 nearly pure silver eventually became
1:00 mostly copper with just a thin wash of
1:03 silver on top. The empire pretended
1:04 nothing had changed, but everyone
1:06 holding those coins paid the price.
1:08 Inflation skyrocketed, savings
1:10 evaporated, and wages couldn't keep up.
1:12 It was a silent tax on the population, a
1:14 trick still used today, just with
1:17 central banks instead of imperial mints.
1:18 The Middle Ages brought another version
1:21 of this game, forced loans. Monarchs in
1:23 England, France, and Spain routinely
1:24 leaned on wealthy merchants and guilds
1:27 to lend money to the crown. Of course,
1:30 these weren't voluntary. Refusal meant
1:32 fines, confiscation, or worse. Sometimes
1:34 the crown promised repayment with
1:36 interest, but repayment often came late
1:39 and devalued currency, or never at all.
1:40 The government maintained its wars and
1:42 palaces, while merchants had little
1:45 choice but to surrender their capital.
1:47 The trick here was coercion disguised as
1:50 patriotism or duty. and it worked for
1:52 centuries. By the 17th century, the
1:54 financial system itself became the
1:56 trick. When Britain created the Bank of
1:58 England in 1694, it wasn't out of
2:00 charity. It was because the government
2:02 needed money to fight wars with France.
2:04 Wealthy investors bought government
2:06 bonds, and in return, the crown
2:07 guaranteed interest payments funded by
2:10 taxes. This sounds like a fair deal, but
2:12 think about who paid those taxes.
2:14 Ordinary people through duties on goods
2:17 like salt, beer, and cloth. The wealthy
2:18 lent money to the government and earned
2:21 secure interest. The poor paid higher
2:23 taxes to fund those interest payments.
2:24 It was a wealth transfer system dressed
2:27 up as national finance. And it cemented
2:29 a pattern still alive today. The safest
2:30 investments in the world are lending
2:33 money to governments. And those returns
2:34 are ultimately guaranteed by the labor
2:37 and consumption of the masses. Fast
2:38 forward to the modern world and the
2:40 tricks are everywhere. Take deficit
2:42 spending. Governments run up massive
2:44 debts, issuing bonds bought by
2:46 investors, banks, and foreign powers.
2:48 Politicians tell the public it's for
2:50 infrastructure, jobs, or social
2:52 programs. But much of it funnels into
2:54 defense contractors, corporate
2:56 subsidies, and bailouts. When repayment
2:58 time comes, governments don't cut
3:00 spending at the top. They raise taxes,
3:02 inflate the currency, or slash social
3:04 benefits. The trick is that the debt
3:06 looks like it's for the people, but the
3:08 burden lands on their shoulders while
3:10 the profits go to the bond holders. And
3:13 then there are bailouts. During the 2008
3:15 financial meltdown, banks took reckless
3:17 bets, bundled toxic mortgages into
3:19 securities, and nearly collapsed the
3:21 global economy. Who paid for it?
3:22 Ordinary taxpayers through massive
3:24 government bailouts. Who profited
3:26 afterward? The very same banks, which
3:28 emerged bigger and more concentrated
3:30 than before. The trick was simple.
3:32 Privatized the gains, socialized the
3:34 losses, and the public was told this was
3:37 necessary to save the system. Even the
3:38 way governments handle pensions and
3:40 retirement is a slight of hand. For
3:42 decades, people in countries like the
3:44 United States, Britain, and across
3:46 Europe have paid into government-managed
3:48 systems, trusting that the money would
3:49 be there when they retired. But
3:51 governments often don't actually save
3:52 that money. They spend it immediately
3:55 and leave IUs in its place. The promise
3:57 is that future taxpayers will cover the
3:59 cost when the bill comes due. It is
4:01 essentially a generational Ponzi scheme
4:03 wrapped in official language. It works
4:05 until demographics shift, populations
4:07 age, and suddenly the system is
4:09 unsustainable. Then the government
4:10 reforms it, usually by reducing
4:13 benefits, raising the retirement age, or
4:15 inflating away the value of payouts.
4:17 Notice the pattern. At every stage, the
4:19 trick relies on perception. The public
4:21 is told inflation is growth, forced
4:23 loans are duty, national debt is
4:25 investment, bailouts are stability, and
4:27 pension cuts are reform. The language
4:29 masks the reality. A transfer of wealth
4:31 from the many to the few, from the
4:33 bottom to the top. And history shows
4:35 this trick has worked for centuries
4:37 because most people don't study economic
4:39 history, don't understand financial
4:41 systems, and don't see the trap until
4:43 it's too late. In recent decades, the
4:44 tricks have only become more
4:46 sophisticated. Consider quantitative
4:48 easing, a term most people never even
4:50 heard of before the 2008 financial
4:52 crisis. Central banks soon created
4:54 trillions of dollars out of thin air,
4:55 buying government bonds and
4:57 mortgagebacked securities to stabilize
4:59 markets. Politicians and bankers
5:01 reassured the public this was necessary
5:03 to prevent collapse. And it worked for
5:05 the financial system. Asset prices
5:08 soared. Stocks, real estate, and bonds
5:11 surged in value. But who owns most of
5:13 those assets? The wealthy. For the
5:15 average household without large
5:16 investments, the benefits were minimal,
5:18 while the downside came in the form of
5:20 distorted markets and rising living
5:22 costs. The trick here was that money
5:24 creation saved the system for those at
5:26 the top while fueling inflation and
5:28 inequality for everyone else. Another
5:30 modern slight of hand is stealth
5:32 taxation. Instead of raising income
5:34 taxes directly, governments quietly tax
5:37 through mechanisms like sales taxes,
5:39 fuel duties, and most of all, inflation.
5:42 When prices rise faster than wages, the
5:44 gap is effectively a hidden tax on
5:46 savings and purchasing power.
5:47 Governments love inflation because it
5:49 reduces the real value of their debts.
5:51 But for citizens, it erodess financial
5:53 freedom. You may feel richer because
5:55 your salary is higher in nominal terms.
5:57 But if your costs outpace your earnings,
5:59 you are actually losing wealth. This is
6:01 not a bug of the system. It is the
6:04 system. Inflation is not simply an
6:06 accident of economics. It is one of the
6:07 most consistent tricks governments
6:09 deploy to shift the burden of their
6:10 spending onto you without ever admitting
6:13 it. Then there's regulatory capture. On
6:15 the surface, regulations are meant to
6:17 protect the public. Financial rules,
6:20 safety standards, consumer protections.
6:22 But time and again, history shows us
6:24 that powerful industries influence the
6:25 regulators meant to oversee them.
6:27 Railroads in the 19th century, oil
6:29 companies in the 20th, and tech and
6:31 finance today all have shaped rules in
6:33 their favor. This is the same dynamic
6:35 the Piquey Blinders learned in miniature
6:37 on the streets of Birmingham. Better to
6:39 own the referee than to fight the game.
6:41 Governments use regulation as a tool to
6:43 appear protective, but behind the
6:45 curtain, the largest corporations carve
6:47 loopholes that keep competition down and
6:49 profits flowing. The public sees
6:52 protection. The insiders see profit. War
6:53 finance is another old trick in new
6:55 clothes. During World War I and World
6:57 War II, governments issued massive
6:59 amounts of bonds, telling citizens it
7:02 was their patriotic duty to buy them.
7:03 People thought they were supporting
7:05 their nation, which they were. But these
7:07 bonds also became lucrative, risk-free
7:09 investments for the wealthy, guaranteed
7:11 by future taxes. In the 21st century,
7:13 the pattern remains. Trillions spent on
7:15 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were
7:17 financed through debt benefiting defense
7:19 contractors, banks, and bond holders,
7:20 while ordinary taxpayers shouldered the
7:22 bill. The trick is that wars are always
7:25 presented as temporary emergencies. Yet,
7:26 the financial burdens last for
7:28 generations, long after the soldiers
7:30 have returned home. Governments also
7:32 weaponize complexity itself as a
7:34 financial trick. Tax codes thousands of
7:36 pages long. Financial instruments so
7:38 complicated even professionals struggle
7:40 to explain them. Budgets filled with
7:42 hidden line items and jargon. All of
7:43 this creates an environment where
7:45 ordinary citizens cannot possibly track
7:48 how money is flowing. Complexity becomes
7:50 camouflage. When you cannot see the
7:51 transfer of wealth, you cannot resist
7:54 it. In ancient Rome, debased coins were
7:56 a physical sign of the trick. Today,
7:57 it's balance sheets buried under
7:59 acronyms and obscure programs. The trick
8:01 is the same. Make it too complex for the
8:03 public to follow and the transfer can
8:05 proceed unnoticed. Why does this matter
8:07 now? Because the tricks are alive and
8:09 accelerating. Inflation eats away at
8:11 your savings. Debt loads grow larger
8:13 each year. Bailouts remain the reflex of
8:15 choice whenever markets wobble. Central
8:16 banks continue to manipulate money
8:18 supply. While governments pass costs
8:20 onto the public in forms so indirect,
8:22 most people never connect the dots. The
8:24 result is a system designed to keep you
8:26 working harder for less real wealth
8:29 while the financial elite grow stronger.
8:31 The lesson from history is not just that
8:32 these tricks exist, but that they always
8:35 return. When Rome debased its coins,
8:37 citizens suffered. When monarchs forced
8:39 loans, merchants lost fortunes. When
8:41 modern states inflate and borrow,
8:42 households bear the burden. Different
8:44 ages, same mechanism. And here's the
8:46 harsh truth. Most people will never
8:48 escape these tricks because they don't
8:49 even realize they're being played. They
8:51 take inflation as natural, taxes as
8:53 inevitable, and bailouts as acts of
8:55 mercy. They believe government messaging
8:58 instead of studying economic history.
8:59 And that ignorance is the most powerful
9:01 trick of all. When people forget the
9:03 past, they cannot recognize its
9:05 repetition. That is why governments and
9:07 elites prefer a public uneducated in
9:09 finance. Financial education is
9:11 resistance. Economic history is a
9:13 weapon. If you know the tricks, you're
9:14 harder to manipulate. So, what should
9:17 you take away? First, always look beyond
9:19 the headline. When governments announce
9:22 stimulus, ask who profits first. When
9:24 inflation rises, remember it is not just
9:26 bad luck. It is policy. When regulations
9:28 appear, ask who wrote them and who
9:31 benefits. Second, build real wealth
9:33 outside the traps. Assets that can hold
9:35 value even when currency does not.
9:37 Third, never assume the system works for
9:39 you just because it says it does.
9:41 Systems exist to protect themselves, not
9:43 you. History doesn't repeat, but if you
9:44 don't understand it, it will crush you
9:46 all the same. The financial tricks that
9:48 kept Roman citizens broke are the same
9:50 ones draining your bank account today,
9:52 only dressed in modern language. The
9:54 only difference is whether you recognize
9:56 them in time. If this gave you a new
9:58 perspective, hit subscribe. History has
Chrome Extension