I was only a child when Gerald Ford was president, and he promised to eliminate inflation with “Whip Inflation Now” buttons. I remember the adults laughing about it. As if the problem of 1970s inflation was caused by ordinary people and a ridiculous p.r. campaign would make it all go away. Then we went from bad to worse with Jimmy Carter. It took Reagan to change everything, and make our lives better for a miraculous few decades.
You had better ask your older relatives if they can find any of those Whip Inflation Now buttons. Because in the absence of 180-degree course reversals in just about EVERYTHING WE’RE DOING, inflation is going to get worse. Probably a LOT worse, even worse than the 1970s.
Inflation is a tax. You pay it so the government can spend into oblivion to advance its power.
Read what economists say (sources below). Rising prices are not inflation; rising prices are a RESULT of inflation. Inflation occurs when a government-run money supply (which we have, via the Federal Reserve) is increased by the government at a higher rate than demanded by consumers. What happened in 2020 and 2021 was government literally spending trillions of dollars as compensation for shutting the entire economy down. It was morally obscene, politically illegal and — as it turns out — economically insane, as well.
It was not necessary to shut down the entire economy for any reason, and it never will be. That’s truly medieval madness happening in the 21st Century. Even if COVID had been as bad as projected — which it wasn’t — many things would have stayed open and no government “rescue bill” would have been necessary. But the government literally created a crisis so that it could run in, be the hero and get rid of Trump all at the same time. It’s the most brilliant scheme of evil since 9/11 — and maybe ever.
And now we’re paying. In the worst case, we may all end up ruined by it, because inflation (unchecked) will destroy the value of money. And that means your salary, your savings accounts and all of your possessions become economically worthless. Think about that. Even the great Joe Biden can’t save you from that; he’ll just snicker and sneer, while his dumb witch understudy cackles at you.
The Bidenistas excuse inflation by saying it’s merely the temporary result of the COVID shutdown. That’s only half the truth; and it’s not the real truth. In fact, it’s a lie. The real truth is that the government (first in 2020, then in 2021) spent more money than any government has ever spent in all of human history. We got inflation in the 1970s because the government spent like drunken sailors on the Great Society (LBJ) and the Vietnam War (LBJ-Nixon). That spending was nothing compared to now. Only when government retrenched on the growth of increase in spending, as well as taxation, in the early 1980s did inflation finally become relatively minimal. Until now.
Inflation has stayed with us because it’s the inevitable byproduct of a government-run currency. If the government didn’t control the currency — and if we had, say, a gold standard instead, where market forces were in charge — then it wouldn’t be possible to inflate or deflate the currency at will. A gold standard relies on human action, i.e., the law of supply and demand. The Federal Reserve relies on — well, on human whim. And, as we all know, the humans presently in charge are all idiots (at best) and tyrannical sociopaths (at worst).
Trump and the Pelosi Congress are to blame for the 2020 spending. Yes, Trump is partly to blame. Trump, to be fair, probably would have stopped with that terrible mistake, but Pelosi and the Bidenistas have taken us into the stratosphere on spending and inflation. And, unchecked by electoral concerns (thanks to election fraud), they are just getting started. The Green New Deal will ruin us financially, to say nothing of returning to the 1850s with respect to transportation and fuel.
It’s very simple: If we give people power to control the money supply, we give them the power to control our prices, our livelihoods, and our very survival. Eventually, that comes home to bite us.
If we give the LEAST morally and LEAST intellectually qualified people the power to control the money supply … well, it’s really, really scary.
And that’s where we are.
Follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Rehoboth Beach DE). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on Twitter at @MichaelJHurd1, drmichaelhurd on Instagram.
Excellent sources on economics: Anything by Thomas Sowell; “Economics in One Lesson” by Henry Hazlitt; “The Law” by Frederic Bastiat; “Human Action” and “Socialism” by Ludwig von Mises; and “Capitalism” by George Reisman.