this post was submitted on 09 Dec 2023
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The central banks of the world are guiding us to a perfect crash landing. Interest rates have remained elevated in an attempt to curb the inflation brought on by printing excessively during 2020 and 2021. This strategy has actually worked by reducing US inflation from over 9% at the beginning of the year to around 3.5% now, according to governmyth numbers anyway. However, that does not mean prices are going 'back down' as our president would wish. A reduction in inflation does not bring prices down, it makes prices increase slower. Reducing prices is called "deflation" and is quite different.

What does all this have to do with a recession? Well, rates determine how much interest to charge on borrowed money such as car loans, mortgages, business loans, etc. With the one, two punch of inflation hurting consumers and higher interest rates hurting businesses people are either being put out of work or not receiving raises and bonuses to make the budget balance.

Consumers must now prioritize what is important such as food, shelter, etc and reduce spending on unnecessary items such as Netflix, Spotify, etc. Remember that this is all caused by the excess money printing done in 2020 and 2021.

The only way to hold what wealth you do have is through a limited supply asset such as gold, silver, etc. These have a limited quantity and a well-known track record of retaining their value. These assets don't go up in value so much as they hold their value as the fiat currency they are compared to looses it's value. Put in simpler terms, an ounce of silver today is worth the exact same as an ounce of silver in 1913 at the inception of the fed. However, the dollar has lost 99% of its value over that same timeframe.

Inflation is a hidden tax against every single person who holds a fiat currency as it is guaranteed to be worth less tomorrow than it is today.

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[–] chris@l.roofo.cc 17 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Precious metals may be limited but their worth is still determined by the buyer and if I don't want or need precious metals for my goods it's worth nothing. They have very little inherent value.

[–] shortwavesurfer@monero.town 0 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What about their uses in industry? Computer chips, batteries, all kinds of things use precious metals.

[–] chris@l.roofo.cc 8 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I said very little not none. The average Joe can't do anything with gold but resell it.

[–] shortwavesurfer@monero.town 1 points 11 months ago

Ah, fair enough.