The Inflation Tax
Inflation is an increase in the supply of money, that eventually leads to a rise in prices.
“What people today call inflation is not inflation, i.e., the increase in the quantity of money and money substitutes, but the general rise in commodity prices and wage rates which is the inevitable consequence of inflation. This semantic innovation is by no means harmless.”[1] -Ludwig von Mises, Planning for Freedom, p. 79 as found in The Quotable Mises, p. 116.
Inflation is taxation as the government gets to spend the newly created money first while prices for citizens rise as the money loses value.
For instance, most everything in the USA today is more expensive than it used to be, especially compared to the years 1913 (creation of the Federal Reserve) and 1971 (total abandonment of gold standard).[2]
The percentage increase in the price of an ounce of gold relative to the dollar (Federal Reserve Note) is one measure of inflation.
An ounce of gold priced in dollars as of July 21, 2020.
If one puts their savings into gold (or silver) as the value of the dollar declines, then one could trade their gold for more dollars and not lose money to the inflation tax.
Considering that the Federal Reserve is printing an infinite amount of money to keep the USA solvent, the inflation tax and the value of gold is only limited by how long people will accept dollars as payment.[3][4]
“But then finally the masses wake up. They become suddenly aware of the fact that inflation is a deliberate policy and will go on endlessly. A breakdown occurs. The crack-up boom appears. Everybody is anxious to swap his money against ‘real’ goods, no matter whether he needs them or not, no matter how much money he has to pay for them. Within a very short time, within a few weeks or even days, the things which were used as money are no longer used as media of exchange. They become scrap paper. Nobody wants to give away anything against them.” -Ludwig von Mises, Human Action (1949), page 428.
[1]https://cdn.mises.org/The%20Quotable%20Mises_2.pdf?token=4GhR8d5e
[2] https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=20.00&year1=197101&year2=202006
[3]https://www.hamiltonmobley.com/blog/10z30r9kwa8c5i7d9t8heuhgxbzycd
[4]https://www.hamiltonmobley.com/blog/6iqjmzuipmiqrcu679jeiojtiel768
