A Simplistic Example

A Colt SAA revolver was priced between $14 and $17 in 1880's. If you bought a new Colt SAA and paid for it with a $20 gold coin you received change.

If you have that same 1880's gold coin today, you can still buy a Colt SAA with it and, depending on the condition of the coin, you would still receive some change.

In the 1880's it took 20 of our US Dollars to get that gold coin. Today, again depending on the condition of the coin, it takes between 3000 and 4000 US dollars to get the same coin.

I realize that this is a simplification, but it is a good indicator of how our government has constantly de-valued the money over the years. It's not that prices are going up. It's that the money is becoming worth less and less.

It will not get any better, in my personal opinion.

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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.

I heard that saying years back, before the turn of the century, and it still holds true today.

It’s nice to get a raise every year, but it really seems that you are barely breaking even with the cost increase of things. I try to buy some silver every once in awhile, telling myself it’s a stockpile of value. I really think it’s a savings for me, because if I have ‘extra’ cash on hand, I’m more likely to spend it. If I have the same value in silver around, I’d have to go sell it then get the cash to spend, so it just stays in the gu safe instead. Maybe one day something really neat will come up and I’ll go cash it all in, or maybe my boys will be counting it out in 30-40 years and wondering what to do with it after I’m gone!

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https://facebook.com/M2bKydex/

"The Dismal Science". I took one economics course in college, and was lost from the first day. I never caught up, either. It was like Jr. High algebra all over again. Bad time, bad time.

But I do know deflation comes with its own set of problems. If people expect the new car will cost less in 6 months, they put off buying it long term, and if a few million people aren't buying the car...factories shut down.

Communist China's going through that right now.

Most economists will tell you that you either have inflation of deflation. You can have growth in times of inflation, but generally not in deflation. So moderate inflation is necessary according to this line of thought.

this is one of the reasons I started collecting guns, knives, and swords after I retired from the military back in the mid-90's... besides my fascination with weapons I found them to be good investment against lack of "funds" when money was needed for emergencies and such...

having to sell off parts of my collection has been painful to say the least but it has saved my bacon several times to include as recently as 2017...

I'm back up to a fairly comfortable level of "items" in my collection currently... tho lately my inventory of swords (specially Japanese swords) is getting fairly abundant... I try to find them at low auction prices so that if I do have to "give up" any, with appreciation of value as a consideration, I should be well above water... needless to say, my handgun, long-gun, and shotgun inventory were acquired at prices that I found reasonable and are appreciating in value nearly as soon as I acquired them...

I enjoy my collection and my wife finds comfort in that we have "investment" inventory if needed for any future emergencies where "funds" are needed rather quickly...