The groceries cost more. The gas costs more. The rent costs more. And the paycheck?
They'll tell you inflation is 2-3%. They point to some chart with a nice clean line that makes it look like everything's under control.
It's not.
Here's what they actually do. They take the price of a TV — something that's gotten cheaper over 20 years because of technology — and they lump it in with gas, food, housing, clothes. Things you actually need to live a productive life. Then they average it all out and say: "See? Prices only went up 2-3%."
But gas prices alone have gone up over 30% in the last two decades. Housing? Through the roof. Eggs? Don't even get me started.
The things we actually need got more expensive. The things that don't matter got cheaper. And they blended them together to try and paint this narrative that things are under control.
Now here's where it gets worse.
Since 1971 — the year we left the gold standard — productivity in the industries that actually matter has flatlined. Look it up. WTF Happened in 1971? It's a real website. Every chart tells the same story.
What did go up? Information technology. iPhones. Social media. TVs.
The same "innovations" that tech founders won't let their own kids use.
Think about that for a second.
The people building these products are keeping them away from their children. And we're calling them innovations?
So your money leaks value every single day. And that changes everything about how you behave.
On the gold standard, the math was simple. Work hard. Save. Your savings hold their value. You're set.
Today? Saving is a losing strategy. You're better off buying gas now than waiting for it to be cheaper tomorrow. Because it won't be.
It's the Red Queen problem. No matter how fast you run, the ground sinks behind you just as fast.
No matter how hard you work, your purchasing power drops at the same rate. That's not an economy. That's a treadmill.
And here's the part nobody talks about.
When they print new money, it doesn't go to you. Look up the Cantillon Effect. The people closest to the money printer — banks, politicians, corporations — they get it first. They spend it while prices are still low.
By the time that money trickles down to you and me? Prices already went up. We're paying more with a weaker dollar.
They didn't work for that money. You did. They printed it, stripped your purchasing power, and spent it on what they think is best for you. No skin in the game. Your labor, their decisions.
To believe you can spend someone else's money better than they can, you have to believe you're better than them. Not better in degree — better in kind. They believe you are sub-human. And they believe they have some god-like ability to allocate your resources in a way that's better than you might be able to.
See the problem with that?
That's not policy. That's arrogance.
The results speak for themselves.
Median age of first marriage: 30 for men. 28 for women. In 1970 it was 23 and 21. You're in your physical prime in your mid-twenties, and now most people can't even afford to start a family until they're past it.
Birth rates? Historic lows. Housing? Unaffordable. Population? Declining.
This isn't a mystery. It's a policy.
So what do you do about it?
That's a discussion for another day.
But step one is diagnosing the issue.
You can't treat a brain tumor if you think the problem is with your kidney.
The very best,
Matt McMahon