History shows that inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.
But in the past, inflating the currency involved substantial work – clipping coins, or lowering and outright removing precious metal content. It’s a process that took the Roman Empire over 400 years.
In the United States, we’ve managed to devalue the dollar at a faster pace in just 110 years:
Since the inception of the Federal Reserve, the U.S. dollar has lost value faster than
the Roman Denarius (Source: @CarlBMenger via X)
That’s the power of progress — err, in this case, the technology of fiat currency, a printing press, or the ability to push buttons on computers and “add” money to a bank account.
Technology is a double-edged sword. We’re still living in the long tail of a hard money, capitalist society – and reaping new technologies out of it.
But the destruction of the purchasing power of the dollar stands to create a crisis – and drive investors back to safe havens like gold.
~ Addison
P.S. Grey Swan Live! continues this afternoon at 2 PM ET. This week’s guest is George Gilder. At the very least, Mr. Gilder’s an interesting character and makes for a great conversation.
George once handed President Reagan the first microchip, and now he says today’s tech wave dwarfs the original $6.5 trillion tech revolution of the 1980s.
Eight exponential technologies — AI, quantum computing, robotics, self-driving cars, blockchain, chips, advanced biotech, and even space — are no longer advancing in isolation.
They’re colliding, compounding, and accelerating into what could be the single greatest wealth-building event of our lifetimes – the ultimate positive Grey Swan.
The pace is staggering. George just issued new research with our colleague Ian King, which you can review here before Grey Swan Live!
If you have any questions for us about the market, send them our way now to: feedback@greyswanfraternity.
