Many people appear to be confused regarding the issue of inflation. Many have expressed the view that inflation is the result of companies raising the prices of goods and services. If you are in this category, allow me to encourage you to do a little more research on the subject. Higher prices on goods and services do not cause inflation. It is the other way around. Inflation forces prices up because inflation happens when the dollar loses value. 

Inflation is always the result of government action, not business actions. When the government prints money without the proper backing, the dollar loses value, and the prices of everything go up. This is my public service to those reading this: inflation is always (and I mean always) the result of stupid monetary policies from governments. When governments believe they can print money without consequences, they create inflation. These dumb monetary policies empty the pockets of the working class, bankrupt businesses, cause starvation, and in some cases, inflation has spilled into wars and the collapse of governments.

Let me conclude by saying that Inflation is always caused by stupid monetary policies by the government and NOT by higher prices. In Zimbabwe, the government printed one-billion, twenty billion-, and fifty-billion-dollar bills that only buy a loaf of bread. Inflation is never a global problem. It is always the result of bad policies in one country at a time. If it was a global issue, everybody would be suffering through 161.8% yearly inflation like in Zimbabwe. But it is not. Only Zimbabwe has that kind of inflation. Imagine having to spend .62 cents more for every dollar you have today. Tomorrow it will be even worse.

For example, let’s say that yesterday you had $1.00 and went to the grocery store and bought a loaf of bread for $1.00. But when you went back today, you have $1.00 but when you went to the store, the same loaf of bread now costs $1.62. This inflation rate would mean that yesterday you could buy your bread, but today, you must go hungry. You have to wait until tomorrow when you will have $2.00 to buy the bread. If the rate of inflation continues at the same level, in three days, you are still be making $1.00 per day, but if you go to the store, the same loaf of bread will cost $2.65. This means that you now have to wait three days before you can buy bread. How long can a family sustain spending in this pattern? If you live in Zimbabwe, you will begin to starve to death. If you live in the United States, when the credit cards get maxed out is game over. 

In the United States, money is losing its value (inflation) at almost a 20% rate per year. This means that within one year, we will need four dollars to buy the same item that today costs one dollar. This is not price gouging by corporations. This is the government making everyone poorer by printing money we don’t have. Very soon, people will begin to experience food shortages (already happening with some items like baby formula), and then, we will begin to lose our retirement pensions, followed by losing our cars and houses. Inflation is a real threat to our survival, and it is the direct result of the politician’s twisted belief that money grows on trees. If the administration does not take this problem seriously, the unthinkable will happen in the United States—another great depression is in our future.