Caeser always wore the best suits, you have to give him credit for that. :^)
Your point is correct though, such as in loaves of bread.
Plain and simpler: An ounce of gold during the Roman Empire would buy an nice suit and a pair of shoes. Today, an ounce of gold will buy you a nice suit and a pair of shoes. Even plainer and even simpler: If during the reign of Caesar you had invested the price of a nice suit and a pair of shoes in gold, today you would have enough gold to buy a nice suit and a pair of shoes. That's an average return of 0% on your investment for 2000 years. You haven't lost a dime, but you haven't made a dime either. In 2000 years, your investment has done squat. Meanwhile, a single penny, invested at a mere 3% interest, would today be worth $472,551,787,558,300,000,000,000.00 You could buy a lot of suits with that kind of money. But why take the risk, right? Better we have one suit for sure than 472 million trillion dollars by investing in the sorts of things that pay 3%. |