Money Decentralization under Direct Democracy Procedures. The Case of Classical Athens

By analyzing the case of Athens during Classical period (508-323 BCE) main thesis this paper is that under direct democracy procedures and related institutional setup, a monetary system without Central Bank may function relatively well. We focus on following issues: (i) Τhe currency issuing in Athenian city-state, (ii) why drachma become leading international Mediterranean world (iii) how towards which targets policy was possible (iv) defining mechanisms for its implementation (v) role money economy (vi) issue deficit spending (vii) reasons replacement as by others from Hellenistic onwards (viii) correlation our findings regarding decentralized character to today’s realities, such cryptocurrencies. Our analysis shows possible, with foremost aim being stability (mainly, silver coins) order enhance trust it so, make an could outcompete other currencies. Since there no like today, decisions were taken popular assembly citizens combination market forces themselves.