Inflation and the Decline of the American Standard of Living

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Seeking to answer the most daunting questions about the human condition, Adam and Jeff wonder why the American dream of owning a home is becoming more and more elusive. But they are forced to admit that housing is only one of a wide variety of basic necessities (e.g., cars, food, fuel, hush money) that are becoming more costly and, in the aggregate, making the middle class lifestyle unattainable. But why? Jeff suggests that the answer lies with the massive expansion of the money supply that the government has foisted upon the citizenry over the past 20 years, which has cut the purchasing power of the dollar in half. The sad fact is that this inflation has cascaded through the economy making people feel wealthier because their homes have doubled or tripled in value--even though their actual purchasing power has likely declined. Unfortunately, inflation increases faster than most wages so that rising prices hurt the most vulnerable members of society. Another culprit is the near-zero interest rates that persisted for more than a decade and caused enormous speculation (and inflation) in all types of assets including classy Omaha Bugle memorabilia, thus making such important items all but unattainable to nearly everyone except the superrich.