For the longest time I couldn’t figure out why the stock market was going up during times when traditionally, under identical conditions in the past, the stock market had gone down. It was during the Obama administration when I discovered that even though the market was going up, the truth of the matter was that the dollar’s devaluation was outpacing the market increases.

Even though the market was showing minor daily gains, the buying power of the dollar was going down faster creating a net loss.

It finally made sense why the FED was printing so much extra money. By printing more dollars this increased the devaluation of the dollar which created the appearance of small gains in the stock market, which were actually losses disguised by the lower buying power of the dollar.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (2), $100 in 2026 has the same purchasing power as just $12.25 did in 1971. Every dollar the fed prints steals from the dollars you’ve worked for. Inflation is a silent tax based into every monetary policy, supported by our government. Why do we allow it? Inflation doesn’t send you a bill or ask permission, it simply makes every dollar you’ve already earned buy a little less.

Whether you blame excessive money creation, government spending, supply shocks, or a combination of all three, the result is the same. The value of your savings declines while the cost of nearly everything else rises. Who benefits? And politicians get to spend that money first, so by the time those extra dollars have entered the economy, they’re already worth less by the time normal people get them. When new money is created, it doesn’t enter the economy everywhere at once. The first recipients of the new money, typically governments, banks, large financial institutions, or entities receiving government spending, can spend it before prices have fully adjusted. As that money circulates, demand increases and prices begin to rise.

By the time the new money reaches wage earners, retirees, or people on fixed incomes, many goods and services are already more expensive, so their purchasing power has declined.