In spite of the fact that things are more expensive today than they were in the past, it isn't always for the reasons we think. The price of an item depends on a number of factors.
One of the most misunderstood words in the English language, as well as in other languages since it has been misinterpreted so widely, is inflation, a word we already knew about, but weren't as frequently spoken about as nowadays. Inflation is the expansion of the money supply. Deflation is a contraction of the money supply. Inflation will always impact our decisions we make, and the problem is even greater than previously.
One of the biggest problems in politics is that career politicians mainly care about themselves, so they depend on lying to stay in their line of work for the rest of their lives. Once they gain power, prestige, and perks, it's hard to let go. In order to succeed in politics, politicians need to re-elect frequently, campaign, advertise, and keep an eye on their reputation. Often, they are funded by corporations or unions, which forces them to listen to their needs, rather than the needs of the community, which is what voted for them, in favor of the large corporations, who pay for their campaigns and help them get elected. There are many things politicians do to deceive you, such as selling promises they know they won't be able to fulfill, and concealing their agendas as something else. The truth probably wouldn't last in politics for a long time or lead to reelection for politicians. The majority of voters request something in return for their votes, and once they receive that something, it is hard to persuade them to vote against it.
There is no money in the government. The only money in the government comes from its citizens. When anyone gets any assistance from the government, or help in any way from it, those funds come from our own pockets. These funds are those that they take from us when we pay taxes. Politicians offer benefits, they typically use taxpayer money to pay for them. However, they don't want to raise taxes, and so when taxes don't increase up, everything else does, leading to inflation.
As a result of abandoning the gold standard, governments began using paper money, enabling them to spend without affecting taxes, causing more inflation. Because governments create inflations, inflation is essentially another tax. Inflation occurs when the money supply expands, while deflation occurs when the money supply contracts. It is the governments that expand the money supply, so they are the ones that generate all the extra burdens we have to endure.
There is always a demand for politicians to assert that inflation is normal and that raising prices is necessary for prosperity. Wouldn't it be better if prices dropped?
During the gold standard era, governments had to physically mine and collect gold to spend money, so it kept governments disciplined since they couldn't just print money, they had to make sure it was mined and collected. The system is no longer used, resulting in lying politicians granting wishes and programs which then affect our economies by not increasing taxes, but by creating inflation.
Quantitative easing (QE) refers to the practice of central banks, such as the Federal Reserve, buying securities from the open market to reduce interest rates and increase the money supply. In addition to enhancing banks' liquidity, QE creates new bank reserves, which in turn encourages lending and investment. The Federal Reserve implements QE policies in the United States.
Quantitative easing is simply another name for inflation, which is now being used by governments. A candidate or elected official promises something, but is unable to fulfill it on a monetary level, so expanding the money supply is the fastest way to pay for it. Because they defer their expenses, it is a threat to the prosperity of the population. We don't pay the consequences right away, but they add to our children's and grandchildren's financial expenses in the future. Every time the money supply is expanded, the value of money goes down, and because governments create gigantic economic deficits, and quantitative easing, we pass our economic problems to our younger generations and find ourselves in trouble. Inflation can only be fixed by politicians limiting their spending, but I have yet to meet a politician who would want to do that. Instead, they spend without accountability, they don't want to accept responsibility for what they do. The government should work in the community's best interests on all fronts, instead of just a few. Also, the Consumer Price Index is somewhat manipulated, and you can't really trust anything the government says based on their studies because they will only make their data look better than reality because they would have to reveal things they don't want the public to know, just like a teenager evaluating his/her own homework. It is not possible for them to be trusted since they would probably all score A+.
A few of the pros of this system are that it encourages borrowing and spending without actually having a limit, it boosts stock prices, and it produces some sort of economic growth. Cons, which affect our pockets and our lives more than the pros, include the weakening of the dollar, hurting savers and non-investors, and inducing inflation and stagflation most importantly.
It turns out that inflation is devastating because it affects the people least able to afford it, that is, those who are middle and lower classes, who work hard, and those who live paycheck to paycheck as well as retirees living on a restricted income. If our government continues to spend they way they have until now, our country will lose the much respected status that we have as the great country that we were always known to be.
Prices going up isn't inflation, its a consequence of inflation, if prices don't go down, because governments create inflation, still affects the community because they now have lost the benefit of good pricing.
Investing or owning assets enables wealthy individuals to benefit from inflation, but then we have to pay more for these products, so we bear the brunt of inflation and carry the majority of its financial burden.
The reason capitalism does so well is because it constantly seeks out better methods to produce or manufacture, which enhances prices.
We would really benefit from having a president who is committed to restoring financial stability for our nation, and getting us back on top of the world again, because our dollar keeps losing value every day, and our deficit keeps worsening, and we seem to be heading downhill without anyone seeming to care or stop us. In the absence of immediate action, we will find ourselves on the verge of doom.