Inflation is low right now because people are afraid of losing their jobs and they’re saving more and not buying many non-essential products. But when demand for goods and services rebounds, and it will, we’ll start to see higher inflation especially in energy prices. If the Democrats still control Washington in 2012 and 2013, they will probably choose a tax increase through higher inflation instead of reductions in federal spending, because their supporters are addicted to federal entitlement programs, pork spending, and subsidized mortgages through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. So everyone who doesn’t want their wealth (especially investment-grade bonds) to be depreciated through inflation had better vote the democrats out of power and vote in some fiscal conservatives who will get federal spending under some control by 2013. Otherwise, physical assets like oil, metals, and agricultural commodities will be better investments than financial assets.