The History of Inflation
What Causes Inflation and Your Hard-Earned Dollars to Lose Value?
Although we have been buying and selling gold, silver and other precious metals for over 30 years, we recognize that most people have not, which is why we have put together a brief history of the inflation and hyper-inflation witnessed throughout the world in modern history below.
The thought of buying a selling gold, silver and other precious metals to protect your hard-earned wealth from inflation caused by run-away government spending can be overwhelming if you haven’t purchased precious metals in the past, however we would love to schedule a FREE consultation with you today to answer any and all of your questions. Simply fill out the form below and we will contact you as soon as possible to schedule your FREE consultation.
A Brief History of Inflation and Fiat-Currency (Currency Without Backing of Gold, Silver or Something Tangible):
What Is Money? A current medium of exchange in the form of coins and banknotes; coins and banknotes collectively.
What Is Fiat Currency? A formal authorization or proposition; a decree.
What Causes Inflation? When government prints money that they do not have to buy things do not need and cannot afford it devalues the currency
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If Inflation Can’t Be Stopped, Have Currencies Ever Collapsed COMPLETELY?
Yes. In fact, listed below you will find a brief overview of the history of modern inflation.
Read the Full Story: After World War Two, China was divided by civil war. Nationalists and Communists battled for control of the country and introduced competing currencies in the process, leaving China’s monetary system fragmented among ten major mediums of exchange in 1948.
Currency took center stage at times during the conflict – Campbell and Tullock (1954) explained that the three governments (including the Japanese occupiers) engaged in “monetary warfare” by attempting to undermine opposing currencies in various ways.
To fund the conflict, the Nationalists resorted to running huge budget deficits, which they eventually looked to cover by printing money, leading to runaway hyperinflation. (This was preceded by the abandonment of the silver standard in China in 1935). They even got the Taiwanese central bank involved with the monetization scheme, which caused hyperinflation in Taiwan as well. Learn More At: https://www.businessinsider.com/worst-hyperinflation-episodes-in-history-2013-9#yugoslaviarepublika-srpska-april-1992-january-1994-3
Read the Full Story: Peru had a long battle with inflation in the latter half of the 20th century. During the first half of the 1980s, Fernando Belaunde Terry was president, and Peru was faced with austerity policies imposed by IMF lenders following the Latin American financial crisis that began early in the decade.
Economist Thayer Watkins says the Belaunde Terry administration gave the appearance that it was complying with the reforms recommended by the IMF, when in reality, it was not. The economy was suffering stagflation at the time, and it was blamed on IMF austerity policies by the electorate, even though those policies weren’t actually being followed.
This led to the election of Alan Garcia in 1985 as president. Garcia enacted populist economic reforms that only served to weaken the economy and shut Peru out of international credit markets. Faced with a lack of access to credit and deteriorating economic conditions, sustained high inflation became hyperinflation in Peru. Learn More At: https://www.businessinsider.com/worst-hyperinflation-episodes-in-history-2013-9#yugoslaviarepublika-srpska-april-1992-january-1994-3
Read the Full Story: The fall of the Soviet Union led to a decreased international role for Yugoslavia – formerly a key geopolitical player connecting East and West – and its ruling Communist party eventually came under the same pressure as the Soviets did. This led to a breakup of Yugoslavia into several countries along ethnic lines and subsequent wars over the following years as the newly-formed political entities sorted out their independence.
In the process, trade among the regions of the former Yugoslavia collapsed, and industrial output followed. At the same time, an international embargo was placed on Yugoslavian exports, which further crushed output.
Petrovic, Bogetic, and Vujosevic (1998) explain that the newly-formed Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in contrast with other states that broke away like Serbia and Croatia, retained much of the bloated bureaucracy that existed before the split, contributing to the federal deficit. In an attempt to monetize this and other deficits, the central bank lost control of money creation and caused hyperinflation. Learn more today at: https://www.businessinsider.com/worst-hyperinflation-episodes-in-history-2013-9#yugoslaviarepublika-srpska-april-1992-january-1994-3
Read the Full Story: Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation was preceded by a long, grinding decline in economic output that followed Robert Mugabe’s land reforms of 2000-2001, through which land was expropriated largely from white farmers and redistributed to the majority black populace. This led to a 50 percent collapse in output over the next nine years.
Socialist reforms and a costly involvement in Congo’s civil war led to outsized government budget deficits. At the same time, the Zimbabwean population was declining as people fled the country. These two opposing factors of increased government spending and a decreasing tax base caused the government to resort to monetization of its fiscal deficit. Learn More At: https://www.businessinsider.com/worst-hyperinflation-episodes-in-history-2013-9#yugoslaviarepublika-srpska-april-1992-january-1994-3
If Inflation Can’t Be Stopped, What Can You Do to Protect Your Wealth?
Buy silver and gold and hold.
Buy real estate and wait.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”
Brian Tracy
(Brian Tracy is a Canadian-American motivational public speaker and self-development author. He is the author of over eighty books that have been translated into dozens of languages. His popular books are Earn What You're Really Worth, Eat That Frog!, No Excuses! The Power of Self-Discipline, and The Psychology of Achievement.)
How Much Has the Price of Gold Increased Since the United States Moved Off of the Gold Standard In 1971?
- 1971 – In 1971, the price of an ounce of gold was officially set at $35 per ounce until President Richard Nixon took the United States off of the gold standard.
- 1985 – Gold averaged a price of approximately $332.85 per ounce in 1985.
- 1995 – Gold averaged a price of approximately $384 per ounce in 1995.
- 2005 – Gold averaged a price of approximately $445 per ounce in 2005.
- 2015 – Gold averaged a price of approximately $1,160 per ounce in 2015.
- 2025 – Gold averaged a price of approximately $3,435 per ounce in 2025
- 2026 – Gold is priced at approximately $4,889 per ounce in 2026 (as this book is being written)