Do you ever wonder why you’re working harder but still feel like you’re falling behind? Why does the American Dream—owning a home, sending your kids to college, living comfortably—seem out of reach despite your best efforts? The answer isn’t laziness or bad luck; it’s inflation, the silent thief quietly robbing your wealth year after year.
This article reveals the hidden history of how governments and banks have systematically eroded the value of your money, benefiting the wealthy at your expense. Understanding this financial game is crucial, because once you know the rules, you can finally start to protect yourself—and maybe even beat the system.
Introduction: The American Dream is Broken
Imagine an average American family working long hours, doing everything “right,” yet struggling to pay bills. They cut coupons, skip vacations, and still have little to show for it. They wonder why buying a home or saving for college feels impossible. It’s not because they’re lazy or irresponsible – in fact, over 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck today . Even the classic goal of owning a home – that cornerstone of the American Dream – has become a nightmare as home prices have far outpaced wages . The truth is, a silent force is eroding their hard-earned wealth. That force is inflation, driven by decades of reckless money printing and bad monetary policy. In this story, we’ll see how the value of money has been chipped away over the past century, and why it’s leaving ordinary people financially squeezed. The punchline? It’s not your fault – the financial game is rigged against you by design. And to understand how, we need to start with the basics: What is money, and why does its value keep slipping through our fingers?
What is Money? A Simple Explanation
Money isn’t magic or complicated – at its heart, money is a tool. It’s something everyone agrees can be traded for goods and services. In economic terms, money serves three key functions: it’s a medium of exchange, a store of value, and a unit of account . Let’s break that down in plain language.
• Medium of exchange: Imagine you’re a farmer with apples and you need shoes. Without money, you’d have to find a shoemaker who wants apples – a tricky barter! Money solves this by being universally accepted; you sell apples for money, and use money to buy shoes .
• Store of value: You can save money today and use it later, expecting it to hold its worth. If money is stable, you won’t need to spend it immediately for fear it will spoil or lose value.
• Unit of account: Money provides a common way to measure what things are worth. It’s like a yardstick for value – allowing us to compare prices easily (e.g. if a sandwich is $5 and a book is $20, we know the book costs as much as four sandwiches).
Throughout history, different things have been used as money – from cows and salt, to seashells, to gold and silver coins . What mattered is that the item was widely valued, durable, and hard to fake or create out of thin air. Gold and silver became especially popular because they met those criteria: they were scarce (limited supply), divisible, and long-lasting . In fact, paper money began as receipts for gold – you’d deposit your gold at a bank and get paper notes you could trade instead of lugging around heavy metal. But over time, governments disconnected paper money from gold (more on that later), turning it into fiat money – currency that isn’t backed by any physical commodity, but rather by government decree and people’s trust .
Why does this history matter? Because it highlights why “sound money” is crucial. Sound moneyrefers to money that holds its value over time and isn’t easily debased (devalued). When money was tied to something real like gold, it was hard for rulers to create new money arbitrarily. This kept inflation (rising prices) in check and protected people’s savings. History shows that societies prospered when their money was stable and reliable. For example, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries when much of the world was on the gold standard, economies experienced unprecedented growth. As author Saifedean Ammous notes in The Bitcoin Standard, under a global sound-money standard “there was never a period that witnessed as much capital accumulation, global trade, … and transformation of living standards worldwide” . In other words, trustworthy money fostered an era of prosperity.
On the flip side, when governments abuse the money printer, money stops being a good store of value. It buys less and less each year, and people struggle. To understand how today’s money got so weak, we need to look at some warning stories from history – times when those in power cheated with the currency and ordinary people paid the price.
A Brief History of Inflation: How Governments Devalue Money
Inflation – the decrease in money’s purchasing power – isn’t a new villain. Rulers have been debasing currency for millennia to fund their own agendas. Let’s tour a few key examples, from ancient times to modern days, to see a pattern: whenever too much money is created, the money in your pocket loses value.
• Ancient Rome (circa 3rd century A.D.): The Roman Empire ran into budget problems (wars and public works are expensive!), so its leaders tried a quick fix – decrease the silver in coins and mint more of them. Early on, a Roman silver denarius was nearly pure silver. But over decades, emperors mixed in cheap metals and recast coins with less and less silver . By the time of Emperor Gallienus, Roman coins had only about 5% silver content – the rest was basically junk metal . With so many more “fake” coins in circulation, prices for everyday goods soared. The inflation was staggering: by 265 A.D., when the denarius contained almost no silver, prices had skyrocketed 1,000% across the empire . Ordinary Romans found that their life savings could barely buy a loaf of bread. This rampant inflation helped wreck the Roman economy – trade broke down, taxes shot up, and eventually the Roman Empire itself began to crumble . It’s a dramatic lesson: debasing money can destroy an entire civilization’s economy.
• Weimar Germany (1921–1923): Fast-forward to post-World War I Germany. Crushed by war debts and reparations, the German government started printing money like there was no tomorrow to pay its bills. The result was one of history’s worst hyperinflations. Prices doubled, then doubled again – and kept going. By November 1923, one U.S. dollar was worth 1 trillion German marks . (Just a decade earlier, a dollar was about 4 marks.) Imagine needing a wheelbarrow to carry enough cash to buy groceries – that actually happened. It was said that a wheelbarrow full of money couldn’t buy a newspaper , and indeed people burned bundles of banknotes for fuel because they were worth less than firewood. One university student famously ordered a cup of coffee at 5,000 marks; by the time he finished it, the price of a second cup was 7,000 marks . Hyperinflation wiped out the savings of the German middle class. People who had saved diligently in marks found those savings became practically worthless. The social consequences were dire: poverty, instability, and anger that fueled extremist politics. Weimar Germany’s nightmare shows how runaway money-printing can ravage an economy and shred the social fabric.
• The Nixon Shock (1971): In the decades after WWII, the U.S. dollar was tied to gold under the Bretton Woods system – foreign governments could exchange dollars for U.S. gold at a fixed rate ($35 per ounce). By the late 1960s, however, America was printing a lot of money for the Vietnam War and social programs, raising doubts about the dollar’s gold backing. In 1971, President Richard Nixon abruptly ended the dollar’s direct convertibility to gold – a move known as the “Nixon Shock.” On TV, Nixon told the public this was temporary and that “your dollar will be worth just as much as it is today.” But this promise turned out to be false. Once freed from gold, the dollar became pure fiat money, and the U.S. (like other countries) could print dollars without restraint. The value of the dollar began to slide. Since Nixon’s decision, the U.S. dollar has lost over 85% of its value when measured by consumer prices – meaning what cost $1.00 in 1971 costs over $7.00 today . (Another way to put it: a 1971 dollar is worth only about 13 cents today .) The 1970s saw double-digit inflation rates that made everything more expensive, a direct consequence of abandoning hard money. Perhaps even more significantly, something broke in 1971: workers’ wages stopped keeping up with productivity. For decades prior, as the economy grew more productive, workers shared in the gains. After 1971, however, productivity kept rising but median wages stagnated . Incomes for the average American flatlined in real terms, while the costs of homes, education, and other essentials continued to climb. Many economists and historians trace this turning point to the end of the gold standard, which removed the discipline that had kept inflation (and by extension, many living costs) in check.
• 2008 Financial Crisis: The 2008 crisis was a major economic scare. To prevent a complete collapse, the U.S. Federal Reserve (the central bank) and other central banks engaged in massive money creation and bailouts. The Fed slashed interest rates to zero and launched “quantitative easing” (QE), a program of buying bonds to inject money into the economy. In plain terms, the Fed was creating new money electronically and pumping it into financial markets. Before 2008, the Fed’s balance sheet (a measure of how much money it has created) was under $1 trillion. By 2014, after several rounds of QE, the Fed’s balance sheet had ballooned to about $4.5 trillion . That’s over a four-fold increase in the base money supply in just a few years – an astonishing expansion. This wave of new money rescued the banks and propped up the stock market, but it also set the stage for future inflation. While consumer prices didn’t jump immediately (much of the money stayed in financial assets, boosting stock and real estate prices), the groundwork was laid for the erosion of the dollar’s value over time. In effect, the crisis response told the world that central banks would print money aggressively whenever trouble struck.
• Post-2020 Pandemic Era: In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and governments responded with unprecedented stimulus. The U.S. Federal Reserve and Congress injected trillions of dollars into the economy (through QE, stimulus checks, business loans, etc.) to offset the downturn from lockdowns. To grasp the scale: about $3.3 trillion was created by the Fed in 2020 alone, which is roughly one-fifth of all U.S. dollars in existence at the time . Never before had so much new money been pumped out so quickly. In the short term, this flood of money helped prevent economic collapse. But by 2021-2022, the effects were clear – inflation surged. Americans started seeing the highest price increases in 40 years. By June 2022, inflation (CPI) was about 9.1% year-over-year, the steepest rise since 1981 . Prices at the gas pump, the grocery store, and the housing market jumped noticeably. That $5 box of cereal might cost $6 or $7 a year later. Meanwhile, nominal wages couldn’t keep up with these fast price hikes, effectively making people poorer. The post-2020 episode underscored a timeless lesson: when you drastically increase the money supply, you decrease the value of each dollar in circulation – and everyone holding dollars feels the pain through higher prices.
Each of these historical snapshots – from Rome to Weimar to modern America – teaches the same story. When money is created recklessly, its value falls. Inflation is not some mysterious curse; it is often the result of deliberate policy choices. Governments and central banks choose to “print” money (whether by literally running the mint or, as today, by digital ledger entries) – often for short-term relief or political gain – but the long-term consequence is stealthy theft of wealth from the people. In the next section, let’s zoom in on exactly how this theft happens year after year, even in times when inflation isn’t making front-page news.
How Inflation Robs You Every Year
So, what exactly is inflation? Inflation is a decrease in the purchasing power of money, reflected in a general rise in prices for goods and services . In simple terms, if inflation is 5%, then something that cost $100 last year might cost $105 this year. Your dollar buys a little less than before. That may not sound too bad, but over time, it really adds up – like a slow leak in a tire that eventually leaves you flat.
Consider this: at 7% annual inflation, prices double roughly every 10 years. This means if $10 today buys your lunch, in 10 years you might need $20 for the same meal. Unless your income also doubles, you’re effectively poorer in terms of what you can afford. Inflation is often called a “hidden tax” because it can quietly erode your wealth without any new law or tax bill – you just notice your grocery cart is emptier for the same money, or your $50,000 savings now buys what $45,000 used to. Unlike an actual tax that’s at least explicit, inflation’s sneakiness makes it dangerous: many people don’t realize how much it’s chipping away at their finances year by year.
Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of someone trying to be financially responsible. Say you manage to save a little from each paycheck and put $10,000 in a savings account for a rainy day. If inflation is running at 7% annually, then after one year, the real value of your $10,000 is only about $9,300 in terms of purchasing power (because prices went up ~7%). After two years, it’s around $8,700, and so on – your money shrinks in what it can do for you. Meanwhile, most bank savings accounts pay very low interest (often well below inflation). For example, in recent times the average savings account might pay around 0.5% interest while inflation might be 3% or higher . When your savings grow 0.5% but the cost of living grows 3%, you lose buying power every month . It’s like running up a down escalator – if you’re not moving faster than the escalator (i.e. earning more than inflation), you’ll fall behind.
Inflation particularly hurts people who can’t invest in assets that outpace inflation. Wealthier folks often park their money in stocks, real estate, or gold – things that may rise in value as inflation climbs. But if you’re living paycheck to paycheck or only able to save cash, you’re stuck watching your dollars silently lose value. A steady 2–3% inflation (the target range set by the Federal Reserve) will erode savings over the years; a higher 7–8% inflation (like we saw recently) can devastate a nest egg within a decade. This phenomenon punishes savers and rewards borrowers (since debts can be repaid in “cheaper” dollars). It also forces everyone to become an investor just to preserve wealth – you can’t simply hold cash for the future, because doing nothing means your wealth melts away. In summary, inflation is an invisible adversary. Every year that it quietly clips 3%, 5%, 7% off your money’s value is a year you worked but didn’t get fully paid in real terms. It is effectively a transfer of wealth from the public (holders of money) to the issuer of new money (often the government or banks).
If you’ve ever felt like you can’t get ahead even when you save, or that your raise at work didn’t go far, inflation is a big part of the reason. A small amount of inflation is normal in our current system, but in recent decades it has been higher than wage growth for many people – meaning even as nominal paychecks grew, the real value (what those paychecks can buy) stayed flat or declined. We’ll explore that next, along with why everyday costs – housing, food, healthcare, education – seem to be climbing a never-ending ladder.
The Illusion of Prosperity: Why Everything Feels More Expensive
Do you ever look at your parents’ or grandparents’ lives and wonder how a single income used to support a family, buy a house, and send kids to college, whereas today even two incomes struggle to achieve the same? It’s not your imagination – things are more expensive relative to earnings, and inflation is a big reason why. The government might report “only” 2% or 3% inflation most years, but what you experience in major life expenses often feels much higher. Let’s unpack this disconnect.
Firstly, essential costs like housing, education, and healthcare have exploded in price over the past few decades. To illustrate, consider housing: since 1960, U.S. median home prices (inflation-adjusted) have risen 121%, while median household income has only risen 29% . In the 1970s, a house might cost a couple years’ worth of the average salary; now it’s common for a home to cost five, six, even ten times a typical annual income . That means buying a home today often requires taking on a far larger debt burden (relative to income) than in the past, or it’s simply out of reach for many. Renters aren’t spared either – nationwide, median rent has increased about twice as fast as incomessince the 1960s . No wonder young adults joke that “rent is the new mortgage” and moving out on one’s own has become harder.
We see similar trends in other areas: college tuition has soared (students now graduate with tens of thousands in loans), and healthcare costs have risen faster than general inflation for years. Even day-to-day items feel pricier. You might notice your grocery bill creeping up or the size of a chocolate bar shrinking (a sneaky form of inflation called “shrinkflation”). Official statistics try to capture inflation, but many experts argue the Consumer Price Index (CPI) understates true inflation . The CPI is a government measure of average price changes, but it has known quirks: it might not fully account for housing price surges (it looks at rents and “owner’s equivalent rent”), and it’s adjusted when people substitute cheaper goods (if steak gets too expensive, CPI assumes people buy chicken, potentially masking the fact that steak is now a luxury). The CPI also uses “hedonic adjustments” – if a product improves in quality, a price rise might be counted as partially quality improvement rather than pure inflation. These technical details aside, the bottom line is that the inflation you feel in your life can be higher than what the official number says. For example, if your rent goes up 10% but the CPI says overall inflation is 3%, your personal inflation rate is probably well above 3%. It’s little comfort when wages don’t keep up.
And indeed, for many, wages have not kept up. Earlier we noted the breaking of the link between productivity and pay around 1971. Here’s what that means: Prior to the 1970s, as the economy became more efficient and workers produced more, their paychecks grew accordingly. But after the early 1970s, the economy kept growing, companies became more productive, yet the typical worker’s real wages stagnated . Incomes did increase in dollar terms, but once you adjust for inflation, the purchasing power of most people’s wages barely budged. The rich got richer, while middle-class incomes flatlined. A report using data from the Economic Policy Institute showed that by the 2010s, if wages had kept up with productivity, the average American might be earning double what they actually were . Instead, much of the gain went to corporate profits, executive compensation, and asset owners. This stagnation is why a family in 2023 often needs two incomes just to maintain the standard of living one income achieved decades ago . It’s not that people suddenly became lazy – they’re working as hard as ever. But the goalposts moved: prices of big-ticket items rose faster than pay. Many families feel like they’re running in place or falling behind, despite the illusion of prosperity seen in GDP growth or a booming stock market.
This leads to frustration and the sensation that “everything is getting more expensive.” Because in a very real way, it is – relative to your paycheck. The government might celebrate a 3% wage growth, but if inflation on the things you truly need is 5%, that’s a pay cut in disguise. Sometimes officials claim inflation is low, but you look at your life and disagree. Part of the illusion comes from averaging: a flat-screen TV might be cheaper than a decade ago (thanks to tech improvements), but what use is that if childcare or medical bills doubled? You can’t offset a $500 increase in rent with a $50 cheaper television.
In essence, inflation, especially when coupled with stagnant wages, has made the middle-class dream harder to reach. People feel poorer not because they aren’t working or earning more than their parents did in nominal terms (they often are), but because their money stretches less. If you feel that a dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to, you’re absolutely right. Over the long run, it doesn’t. Since 1913 (when the Federal Reserve was created), the U.S. dollar has lost over 95% of its purchasing power. Even since the 1980s, dollars have significantly declined in value. This erosion is mostly gradual and hidden – giving an illusion that the economy is prospering (higher GDP, higher incomes on paper) while many individuals quietly lose ground. It’s like being on a treadmill that’s slowly speeding up: unless you increase your pace (earnings) faster and faster, you end up lagging. And millions of Americans, through no fault of their own, have been unable to keep up with that pace. Meanwhile, a select few seem to sprint ahead with ease – which brings us to who wins in this inflationary system.
Who Benefits? The Role of Bankers and the Federal Reserve
If inflation hurts so many people, why does it keep happening? The short answer: because somepowerful players benefit from it. To understand this, let’s peek behind the curtain of how money gets created today and who touches it first. This is often called the Cantillon Effect, named after economist Richard Cantillon, who observed in the 18th century that the way new money enters an economy can redistribute wealth. In modern terms, the Cantillon Effect means those who receive newly created money first enjoy a windfall, while those who receive it last suffer a loss .
Here’s how it works in our current system: The Federal Reserve (the Fed) can create money essentially with a few keystrokes – this is often jokingly called printing money “out of thin air,” and it’s not far from the truth. When the Fed wants to stimulate the economy, it might buy government bonds or other assets from banks, paying with money that didn’t exist before. This new money inflows first to the big banks and financial institutions. Likewise, when banks create a loan, they typically do so by crediting the borrower’s account with brand-new digital dollars. In both cases, new money is injected at specific points – usually in the financial sector .
The early recipients of this money – banks, corporations, investors – get to use it before prices have adjusted upwards. For example, a bank that now has billions in fresh reserves can lend it or invest it quickly, maybe buying assets like stocks or real estate. This drives asset prices up, benefiting those asset holders. By the time this money “trickles down” to average folks (say, as business investments, loans, or government spending reaching consumers), prices in many areas may have already risen in response to the initial spending. In practical terms, **the banks and connected insiders get a head start; they can spend the new money while prices are still low . But when the money finally reaches the broader public, the cost of living has often gone up. The late receivers (like wage earners on fixed salaries, or people on Social Security) find that their income buys less because of the earlier inflationary surge.
Think of it as economic musical chairs: when new money is created, it’s like extra players being added to the game. The first players (banks, big investors) grab their chairs (buy assets, goods) quickly. By the time the last players (ordinary citizens on fixed incomes) get to move, some chairs are gone and they are left scrambling as prices (the cost of chairs) have adjusted upward. This phenomenon increases wealth inequality. Those “nearest the money spigot” – bankers, financiers, government contractors – see their wealth increase. Those far from it – working-class people living on savings or fixed wages – see their relative wealth decrease .
Let’s look at an example from recent times: After the 2008 crisis and again in 2020, the Fed’s massive money creation coincided with a roaring bull market in stocks and real estate. If you owned lots of stocks or multiple houses, you likely saw your wealth leap upward. If you didn’t have assets – if all your wealth was in your labor (paychecks) – you probably saw much less benefit. In fact, the share of wealth held by the top 1% (and especially the top 0.1%) of Americans has grown, while the bottom 50%’s share has stagnated. This isn’t merely due to hard work or innovation; it’s significantly a side effect of monetary policy. Data show that the wealth of the top 0.1% has surged in line with the expanding money supply (M2), whereas the bottom 50% of the population has not kept up with this growth . When the Federal Reserve pumps liquidity, it often first boosts asset prices (stocks, bonds, real estate) – which the wealthy disproportionately own. Meanwhile, the cost of essentials (food, housing) goes up for everyone, effectively hitting the poor and middle class hardest (they spend a larger fraction of their income on those essentials). It’s a redistribution – not by overt tax policy, but by the mechanics of how money is injected into the economy.
And who orchestrates these money flows? Largely, central bankers and private banks. The Federal Reserve, despite its government-sounding name, is a peculiar institution – it’s the central bank of the U.S., but it has a degree of independence and is influenced heavily by major private banks. In creating money or setting interest rates, the Fed’s decisions often prioritize “stabilizing the financial system,” which in practice can mean bailing out banks or propping markets, sometimes at the expense of savers. Private banks, for their part, profit from the system by lending out money they create electronically (fractional reserve banking allows them to lend many times the cash they actually hold). It’s a complex system, but the key takeaway is the incentives are skewed. Inflation, moderate or high, doesn’t hurt the big players as much as it hurts you. In fact, moderate inflation can help debtors (governments and big corporations are huge debtors) by reducing the real value of what they owe. It also helps banks because it encourages people to borrow (who wants to hold cash that’s losing value?). Central banks actually aim for some inflation (around 2% annually) – they fear falling prices (deflation) because that could increase the real burden of debts and slow down spending.
Thus, we live in a world where the system is biased toward creating inflation. When push comes to shove, central banks print money to rescue the economy (or markets), inflation be damned. And when they do, those **closest to the money creation reap rewards, while those furthest see a “tax” on their purchasing power. This is why you’ll often hear that “inflation makes the rich richer and the poor poorer.” It’s an oversimplification, but it captures the essence of the Cantillon Effect. The Fed and big banks act as gatekeepers of this money, and they are not neutral referees – they and their clients are players in the game who often gain from the very policies that hurt the average person.
To put it bluntly, the financial elites have learned how to play the money game to their advantage. If you can borrow at low interest and buy assets, inflation can actually make you money (your assets inflate and your loan gets easier to pay off in cheaper dollars). If you’re lending money or holding cash, inflation is your enemy. Guess which side banks and wealthy investors are usually on? They are net borrowers/investors, not cash holders. So they use inflation to their benefit. Meanwhile, regular people are told inflation is somehow natural or for their own good (for instance, you might hear that a little inflation is needed for a healthy economy). But who is defining “healthy” and for whom? It appears healthy for those at the top.
Understanding this dynamic is empowering. It reveals that inflation is not just a fact of life like the weather – it’s a result of policy choices that have winners and losers. And unfortunately, we – everyday working people – have been the losers in this arrangement. The game has been tilted, but once you see it, you can start to protect yourself and advocate for change. Before getting to solutions, let’s recap and drive home the main point one more time.
Conclusion: It’s Not Your Fault – But You Need to Understand the Game
The deck has been stacked against the average person through a century of inflationary monetary policy. If you feel like you’re running harder just to stay in place financially, you’re not imagining it and you’re not alone. The system is indeed rigged – not via some wild conspiracy, but through the ordinary workings of central banking and government policy that gradually devalue the dollar in your pocket. Your dollars buy less each year because those in charge keep creating more dollars. Value doesn’t come from thin air; when new money is created without new goods to match it, someone’s value is taken. That someone is often you, me, and anyone living on fixed wages or savings.
Recognizing this truth is the first step toward navigating the game. It’s crucial not to succumb to despair or fatalism; rather, use this knowledge. Understand that inflation is the silent thief of your wealth, and adjust your financial strategy accordingly. This might mean investing in assets that historically hold value (like quality stocks, real estate, or precious metals) or exploring modern alternatives like cryptocurrency (e.g. Bitcoin) which was invented as a sound-money response to this very problem. It also means advocating for sound money principles – asking why our money must lose value and whether there are better ways.
Most importantly, don’t internalize financial struggle as personal failure. As we’ve shown, even a diligent, hardworking person can fall behind in an inflationary environment. The problem is systemic. The American Dream – work hard, save, and get ahead – has been undermined by an insidious force that few are taught about in school. But now you understand the culprit. You can see that a dollar today is not the same as a dollar ten years ago, and that’s by design. By learning from history (Rome, Weimar, 1971, etc.), we can predict where current policies might lead and prepare ourselves.
While fixing the entire system might be a tall order, you can take control of your own knowledge and decisions. Empower yourself with further learning. There is a rich body of literature on money, inflation, and economic history that can deepen your insight. To get started, here are some highly recommended books that explore the themes we discussed:
• The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking – by Saifedean Ammous (2018) – An illuminating history of money and a case for why sound money (like Bitcoin or gold) is crucial for economic stability . This book explains in accessible terms how money evolved and why unsound money (money that can be printed at will) leads to problems like hyperinflation. (Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Standard-Decentralized-Alternative-Central/dp/1119473861)
• When Money Dies: The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany – by Adam Fergusson (1975) – A classic account of the Weimar hyperinflation we discussed. It’s a haunting, real-world story of what happens when a currency collapses, told through firsthand experiences in 1920s Germany . (Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/When-Money-Dies-Devaluation-Hyperinflation/dp/1586489941)
• The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve – by G. Edward Griffin (1994) – A popular exposé on the creation of the U.S. Federal Reserve and how the banking system really works. Written in an engaging “detective story” style, it argues that the Fed’s money mechanisms serve elite interests at the expense of the public . This book will change the way you view central banking and fiat money. (Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Creature-Jekyll-Island-Federal-Reserve/dp/091298645X)
• What Has Government Done to Our Money? – by Murray N. Rothbard (1963) – A short and powerful read by an Austrian-school economist that breaks down the history of money and how government manipulation devalues it. Rothbard clearly explains concepts like fractional-reserve banking and the gold standard vs. fiat money, arguing that government and banks have eroded our money’s value through inflation . (Free PDF via Mises Institute: https://cdn.mises.org/What%20Has%20Government%20Done%20to%20Our%20Money%202024.pdf)
• Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World – by Liaquat Ahamed (2009) – A Pulitzer Prize-winning historical narrative about the central bankers of the early 20th century (in the US, UK, France, and Germany) and how their policies contributed to the Great Depression. It’s a great background on how monetary decisions can have global consequences, told through biographical stories of the key figures. (Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Lords-Finance-Bankers-Broke-World/dp/0143116800)
By diving into these works, you’ll gain a firmer grasp of why the system works as it does and what alternatives might look like. Remember: knowledge is power. Inflation may be eroding the value of your dollar, but increasing the value of your understanding is within your control. Armed with insight from history and sound economics, you can make better choices for your future – and perhaps join a growing chorus of voices calling for a fairer monetary system. The American Dream might be on life support, but with eyes open, we can fight to revive it. After all, once you understand the rules of the “game,” you can play to win, or at least not get played.
In later essays, we’ll explore concrete steps and solutions – from personal finance moves to systemic reforms – to protect ourselves from inflation and reclaim our financial freedom. It’s not your fault the game was rigged, but it will be your benefit to learn the rules and beat them at it.
About Pathways to Success and Georgia Prisoners Speak (GPS)
At Georgia Prisoners Speak (GPS), we believe that education is one of the most powerful tools for breaking cycles of incarceration and building a better future. That’s why we created the Pathways to Success program—a dedicated initiative providing educational resources, skill-building guides, and financial literacy tools tailored specifically for prisoners and their families.
GPS is a prison reform advocacy platform focused on exposing systemic injustices, pushing for policy change, and empowering incarcerated individuals with the knowledge they need to successfully re-enter society. Our educational articles are part of this mission, ensuring that those impacted by incarceration have access to practical guidance that can help them build stability, opportunity, and financial independence.
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Sources:
1. Majority of Americans Living Paycheck to Paycheck:
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/11/majority-of-americans-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html
2. Productivity-Pay Gap (EPI):
https://www.epi.org/productivity-pay-gap/
3. What Has Government Done to Our Money (Mises Institute):
https://fee.org/articles/what-has-government-done-to-our-money
4. The Bitcoin Standard (Mises Institute – Overview):
https://mises.org/library/bitcoin-standard-decentralized-alternative-central-banking
5. Inflation and the Fall of the Roman Empire (FEE.org):
https://fee.org/articles/inflation-and-the-fall-of-the-roman-empire
6. Weimar Hyperinflation Explained (Investopedia):
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/w/weimar.asp
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/120716/hyperinflation-weimar-germany.asp
7. Nixon Shock (Investopedia):
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nixon-shock.asp
8. Inflation Calculator – Value of $1 from 1971 (In2013Dollars):
https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1971
9. “What the F*** Happened in 1971” (Wage stagnation after Nixon Shock):
10. Federal Reserve Balance Sheet Trends (Federal Reserve Official):
https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/bst_recenttrends.htm
11. U.S. Money Supply Increase in 2020 (TechStartups):
12. CPI Inflation June 2022 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics):
https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/cpi_07132022.htm
13. General Definition of Inflation (Investopedia):
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/inflation.asp
14. Average Savings Interest Rates (Bankrate):
https://www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/average-savings-interest-rates
15. Trends in Income and Wealth Inequality (Pew Research Center):
https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality
16. U.S. CPI Questions and Answers (Bureau of Labor Statistics):
https://www.bls.gov/cpi/questions-and-answers.htm
17. Inflation since 1913 (In2013Dollars):
https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1913
18. Cantillon Effect Definition (Investopedia):
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cantillon-effect.asp
19. Wealth Distribution Data (Federal Reserve Official):
https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/chart
