We tend to think of economic crises as relatively rare, isolated events like the Great Depression or the 2008 meltdown. But in truth, they are pretty common. They’ve been happening for thousands of years, and few generations escape them.

This fascinating video by HowMuch graphically illustrates the history of economic crises.

Video Length: 00:06:24

The very first major economic collapse in recorded history happened between 218-202 BC when the Roman Empire experienced money troubles after the Second Punic War. As a result, bronze and silver currencies were devalued. With the rapid currency devaluation going on in the US today, we might want to take note of this ancient history.

Since that first meltdown, there has been a steady stream of crises, varying in scope and intensity. Some have been isolated to certain countries or regions, while others have been global.

Many different factors can spark an economic crisis. A speculative bubble in the housing market was a major factor in the last meltdown in the US. There have been credit crises caused by a reduction in the general availability and accessibility of loans. We’ve seen currency crises, hyperinflation like in Argentina recently, and stock market crashes. A debt crisis continues in Europe. It started in 2009 when Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Cyprus had trouble repaying their government debt. That may well be in America’s future as well.

Even “acts of god” such as droughts and floods can precipitate an economic crisis.

In other words, economic meltdowns aren’t always monetary in nature, like the one we appear to be heading toward today. But even those that begin in other ways can snowball and have dramatic impact.

Interestingly, the US appears particularly susceptible to economic meltdowns, based on analysis of the video:

With only 239 years of existence as a country, the United States has experienced double the number of crises as Spain, Italy, and Portugal, which are much older societies. This equates to approximately one crisis every 9 years.”