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I
F YOU WOKE UP
tomorrow to
discover a thief in the night had
robbed you of a portion of your
possessions, you'd probably caU
the police. You'd certainly know
you'd been robbed.
And yet you may not realize that
you
were
robbed last night! You were
robbed by inflation.
But how did inflation rob you?
Last night , the real value of your
money shrank. Today it does not buy
the goods and services it did yester–
day. Justas if a thief had stolen your
bankbook and taken sorne of the
money out , your money now enti tles
you to less than it did before. You are
poorer.
l ronically, even the man who pro–
moled the kind of government pol i–
cíes that cause inflation knew infla–
tion for what it is: theft. In 1919, the
British economist, John Maynard
Keynes, wrote, " By a continuing pro–
cess of inftation, governments can ·
confiscate secretly and unobserved,
an important part of the wealth of
their citizens."
The Culprit ldentlfied
Just what is inflation?
One of the best single definitions
of inflation ever made was given by
one of the world's foremost authori–
ties on the subject, economist Henry
Hazlitt: " Inflation is an increase in
the quantity of money and credit. Its
chief consequence is soaring prices."
Soaring prices, of course, mean that
each unit of money (a dollar, a
pound, a lira) cannot buy as much as
it could yesterday.
" Inflation," Mr. Hazlitt continues,
"is caused solely by printing more
money. For this the government's
monetary policies are entirely re–
sponsible."
Human government is the only
part of society that is a llowed to print
money. Human government controls
the amount of money in circulation.
Inflation is thus caused by human
política! rulers. To maintain the glo–
ry of política! office in this world,
they quite literally print more money
and put it into circulation. They do
this to stimulate the economy (more
jobs equals more votes), and to
enable the government to spend more
money on its various activities.
The root cause of inflation now
stands exposed.
lt
is the covetousness
April 1980
WHAT
INFLATION IS
DOINGTO
YOURWORLD
... and
How
ItWill
Be
Halted
by Jeff Calkins
Inflation is not just an economic problem. It is an international
curse. I t causes moral decay and untold human hardship. Yet
few realize there is hope. l nflation will be stopped when the right
world government comes to power.
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