The disgrace that is government and its cohort in crime, the Federal Reserve, is obvious from the following chart:
The red dot represents the date the Fed was created. The data represents the CRB index (as reported or reconstructed). The Fed was formed with two mandates:
- to provide backup for individual banks in times of financial stress
- to provide a stable dollar
As predicted, the Fed became an instant inflation engine, creating the roaring 20′s only to be followed by the Great Depression. Since the formation of the Fed, the dollar has lost 95% of its purchasing power.
Devaluing the dollar is no different than taxation. Both steal from the productive class. This performance represents outright theft of every saver in the country. It also represents accentuated business cycles and distortions in investment. It is destroying what used to be a thriving middle class.
To the right of the red dot (during the Fed’s reign), the first two upward thrusts represent WWI and WWII. Most of the inflation occurred after 1971, not coincidentally the year the US left the gold standard. A gold standard imposed limits on the amount of dollar devaluation that was possible. A gold standard removes monetary discretion from politics.
The ruling elite has little more than a parasitic class, systematically plundering the wealth of middle class citizens. Long ago the notion of citizen politicians was abandoned and replace with career politicians (vultures), pretending to do good while they themselves did very well.
The chart above is from Zerohedge whose title was particularly apt: Presenting The Fed’s Slogan: “Making It Harder To Feed Your Family For 98 Years And Counting.” If you need a bigger version of the chart, try their site.
Can you imagine the Founders of this once great country tolerating anything like this? I certainly cannot. They revolted over pennies in imposed taxes.
