晚近逐漸出現一種觀點，即南朝特別是蕭梁是中古自然經濟格局中貨幣經濟高度發展的階段。本文討論梁代貨幣政策變動與「貨幣經濟」的關聯以及演變，認為貨幣政策的變化，使蕭梁社會經濟陷於通縮、通膨交相肆虐的困境──尤以鐵錢與「短陌」的出現為甚──因此梁代「貨幣經濟」的說法應予重新審視。梁初承襲前代不鑄錢而導致的通貨緊縮情勢，武帝發行天監五銖與「公式女錢」，已出現通膨（錢重不足）傾向。隨後梁武發行五銖鐵錢，造成一波六朝史上僅見的物價膨脹風潮，並引發晚期的社會經濟亂局。鐵錢衰落階段出現「短陌」（以不足一百當一百）現象，表明通縮困境再度回潮。梁末鐵錢和諸幣俱廢，但為了彌補財政之需，轉而鑄出更輕薄的兩柱、鵝眼、四柱、五銖細錢等等劣質通貨。以後的陳朝五銖、大貨六銖無非是蕭梁混亂經驗的複製。與「貨幣經濟」高度發展的說法相反，梁、陳貨幣政策的特徵，其實是增加了貨幣數量的膨脹浪潮，和其所導致的物價波動效果，以此不獨未能解決「流動性不足」的問題，反而引發了一連串「流動性過剩」的擾動，造成一波又一波的貨幣衝擊，擴大了中古六朝通縮、通脹循環震盪的雙重危機。

Under the threat of overall deflation, the Liang Dynasty (502-557) continued the “no-mint policy” of the Qi Dynasty. Emperor Wu 武帝 (464-549) issued a wuzhu 五銖 coin and “official female money” 公式女錢, both of which became less and less valuable.Later on, Emperor Wu issued “iron money,” which caused a huge wave of inflation during the Six Dynasties 六朝 period and eventually led to socio-economic crisis. The duanmo 短陌, literally ‘short hundred’ (i.e., short of currency)phenomenon arose in the final stages of iron money, which resulted in serious deflation. In the late Liang Dynasty, the wuzhu coin, the “official female money,” and the iron money were all taken out of circulation. Instead, several low-quality coins were cast.The Chen Dynasty (557-589) simply repeated the misguided currency policies of the Liang. Currency reforms in both Liang and Chen Dynasties caused socio-economic chaos. This paper explains why a sound monetary economy was not possible under the Liang-Chen currency systems.