Quote from: o_e_l_e_o on Today at 08:25:00 AM

Quote from: Darker45 on Today at 03:00:38 AM

Well, on a side note, talks of the US dollar losing value have been around for many decades. Notwithstanding the devalued dollar, however, I'm pretty sure you can still buy a burger with a couple of bucks.

That's a silly argument, no offense. Burgers seem cheap because burgers are cheaper, and you are accustomed to the cost of the burger being what it is.

My point is that despite the recurring talks and criticisms of how the USD is being continuously devalued or even desecrated as a currency by the monetary policies and decisions of the people up there, it remains true that even a tiny and seemingly insignificant amount which people can easily toss around can still provide you a decent food.

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The dollar is losing value constantly. It's lost over 90% of it's value since 1950. That's a single lifetime. Are you happy with only being able to pass 10% of everything you own on to your children as inheritance and the state taking the rest? I'm old enough to remember when burgers cost 50 cents. Back then, $3 or $4 for a burger would seem outrageous, just like $20 for a burger seems outrageous today. But in a few short decades, that will be what burgers cost.

Losing value is an integral feature of any currency. Fiat is designed to be so. Therefore, it is not fiat's fault if parents would keep cash as inheritance.

Consequently, it is also by design that goods and services will also increase in price over time. But that does not mean that an ordinary person or family has also lost its purchasing capacity due to the increasing prices. Because along with it is also the increase of its income. If the increase in prices means that a person is losing one meal a day, then that's the inflation that is way out of hand. Otherwise, it could just be the preferred inflation.

So, if the USD is losing 90% of its value since 1950, I would also assume that people's usual salary has also increase around 90% since then.

P.S.: Pardon me if I may be speaking out of touch of the US economic reality. I haven't been there nor have I studied thoroughly its economy, but I'm a bit sure, however, that the US economy is largely founded upon consumer spending. It is consumerism that accounts around 70% of the economy. This simply means that the huge majority of the people out there has the capacity to spend and spend and spend.