Sowell hits another one out of the park.
He’s absolutely right. Inflation is in essence a tax on savers, or whomever happens to be stupid enough to hold onto dollars for more than a split second. It can affect rich people, too, but is more likely to fall upon the poor. In gubmint jargon inflation is “regressive.”
When I graduated from High School in 1965:
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1965.html
Average Cost of new house $13,600.00
Average Income per year $6,450.00
Gas per Gallon 31 cents
Average Cost of a new car $2,650.00
Loaf of bread 21 cents
Average Rent per month $118.00
1965
USMC Pvt made $88/month.
USMC 2nd Lt made $295/month.
2012
USMC Pvt made $1379/month.
USMC 2nd Lt made $2828/month.
In 2011:
Average Cost of New House $262,260.00
Cost of a gallon of Gas $3.52
US Postage Stamp 44 cents
Gallon of Milk $3.39
Move Ticket $8.20
Price Of Gold Per Ounce ( August 2011 ) $1,677.95
Average Yearly Wages $40,925.00
Just to show how generous the government is, consider this. When I was in second grade in 1953, we were encouraged to bring in a dime every week to put toward buying a $25 US Savings Bond for a cost of $18.75. Today, that Series E bond would be worth $166.43!
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/BC/SBCPrice
An inflation calculator shows that $18.75 in 1953 is worth $162.44 today.
http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
So, by prudently investing in US Savings Bonds when I started grammar school, for each investment of $18.75 I would have earned $3.99, total, over the course of 59 years!
What a way to plan for your retirement!
A rising demagogue coined the phrase "starving billionaires," because even a billion Deutschmarks was not enough to feed your family. That demagogue was Adolf Hitler, and the public's loss of faith in their irresponsible government may well have contributed toward his Nazi movement's growth.
We should learn from history. This robbery is happening now. Whether Obama becomes Hitler, I don't know but we're headed toward an inflation calamity. If I were rich, I would invest in things that would be harder to get like basic necessities and also things that would make me more productive in gaining basic necessities that perhaps could save me money in the short term as well.
thanks for posting!