MB CAPITAL STRATEGIES
What protects?
MB CAPITAL STRATEGIES
What protects?
Why inflation isn't a conspiracy — but a tax nobody ever voted for. Statistically documented, with real data from the Fed, BLS, Eurostat and NBER.
That's not some crypto guy talking. That's the most famous economist of the 20th century. And the word he uses is: confiscate.
Drag the slider to a year — and see how much purchasing power has evaporated since. Real BLS data.
Since the euro was introduced in 1999, German purchasing power has lost −37.6%. Some claim it "halved" — that's not true, it's about 37%. I'll stick with the real numbers. Source: Flossbach von Storch / Destatis
Not every "money supply" is the same. The central-bank balance sheet (M0) is misleading — what matters is the broad money that reaches the consumer, times its velocity.
If printing money instantly caused inflation — why did it stay below 2% from 2008–2020, even as the Fed created trillions? The answer is in this curve: velocity collapsed. The money sat in the banking system.
The Fed ballooned its balance sheet from under 1 to 4.5 trillion dollars. Inflation? Stayed below 2% for over a decade. Because the money sat as bank reserves (excess reserves peaked at ~$2.7 tn in 2014) and never reached the consumer.
In just over two years M2 shot up by about +40% (single-year record ~27% YoY, Feb 2021) — this time as helicopter money straight into accounts, not just as bank reserves. Roughly 12–18 months later: inflation at 9.1% (June 2022), the highest since 1981. Watch the lag between the two curves.
Long term the money supply wins anyway — that's the purchasing-power curve from the very top. (And yes: deflation despite printing is possible — Japan, 2008/09.)
Nobody votes on it. You pay it anyway. Economists have a name for it — the inflation tax — and it's in peer-reviewed Harvard papers, not conspiracy forums.
For 100 years the expropriation was invisible and slow. Now comes technology that could make it visible, fast and targeted: central bank digital currency (CBDC). Important: the technology enables it — whether the West uses it that way is open. China shows it live, the US is pushing back, the EU is building with privacy promises.
Money that becomes worthless after date X — to force spending. Already deployable in China.
"This money only for X" — programmable rules for what you're allowed to pay for.
The account simply shrinks — directly enforceable, no detour through banks.
Every transaction potentially traceable — the end of cash-like privacy.
That's not a goldbug at the bar — that's the top central banker of central banks. Openly, on the record. Again: no conspiracy when it's said out loud.
The world's largest live CBDC: >$2.3 tn cumulative, +800% since 2023, ~2.25 bn wallets. Expiry dates & compliance blocks technically real. Source: Atlantic Council / IndustryWeek.
Trump executive order (23 Jan 2025) bars federal agencies from a CBDC. The Senate additionally waved through a ban until 2030 (85–5) — the law not yet finally signed, but the direction is unmistakable. Rationale: privacy & freedom.
Possible first issuance in 2029 at the earliest, EU Parliament decides in 2026. Holding limit ~€3,000. The ECB promises privacy & a cash-like offline mode. Source: ECB.
Staying honest: the digital euro is officially not planned as control money. But that's exactly why the fight over limits, privacy and programmability matters now — whoever waits until it's built has no voice left.
If money can lose value slowly (inflation) or fast (a CBDC rule) — what's left? Historically: real assets. Productive assets that have a real counter-value and can't be devalued with a click. As a category, not as a hot tip.
Honestly: real assets fluctuate, are no free lunch and no miracle cure. Diversification and long horizons are part of it. I'm not selling you anything here — I'm just showing you what Keynes already knew 100 years ago.
Keynes, 1919. Not one in a million sees through it. Now you do.