[M-cubed]

This is exactly what would happen if our leaders told us that that $100 bill in your wallet is now a dime.<<<

Shusssh..nobody knows yet....... http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

[theBuckwheat]

In 1933, Roosevelt devalued gold from its statutorily-defined value of $20/oz to $35/oz. Today, it is just shy of $670/oz.

If you think that money is not gold and gold is not money, we could compare the cost of any other market basket. I remember gasoline in the 1960's selling for 19.9/gallon. In these terms, the dollar has declined in value by about a factor of 10. By almost any other measure the dollar buys less today by a large factor. (By the measure of hard disk drive capacity, it is just the opposite)

Over the years, the US government has totally cut the dollar free of gold and to day there is no legal definition of the value of the dollar. Its value fluctuates according to supply and demand. Since the supply is so easy to come by (it is borrowed into circulation at the press of the mouse button), the direction of the trend of its value is clear.

People should not confuse wealth with money. Because nothing stops governments from inflating-away their currency, keep your wealth in assets that will tend to respond positively to inflation.