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Last week I wrote an article telling you about people who are your effective financial enemies – namely, central banks – as well as large European and American banks.
I made some big claims in that article – claims that you may believe, but would probably like some backup for.
I wrote, “These policies can and will bankrupt you. They deem you and your finances liable for all debts (current and future) of the federal government AND the entire global banking system.”
That’s a big claim and it requires proof. I know that many people think that while some people might get wiped out by inflation that they’ll ultimately be fine.
But that’s part of what makes inflation so insidious – it’s really hard to tell that you’re getting hurt by it, until you REALLY start feeling the pain.
And the fact is, many people ARE getting hurt by inflation.
Take a look at the table below that shows how far most incomes have fallen once you factor in inflation:
[hat tip to Charles Hugh Smith for the table]
Notice that for most age brackets, their incomes peaked 12 years ago.
And even for the “top” earning age group (45-54) the fall is substantial.
Most people feel like they’re earning more than they were 12 years ago – and most people are wrong. They’re fooled by the higher number, and forgetting to factor in 12 years of inflation.
If you’re looking for a reason why real, inflation adjusted incomes have fallen, you don’t have to look any further than the Federal Reserve and the buddy system it has with broke banks in America, Europe and beyond.
Whether it’s a totally obvious bailout for banks like Citigroup (NYSE: C) or one of the Fed’s sneaker “swaps” (which are really loans) made to broke European banks, the Fed essentially printed this money into existence in order to make these loans and bailouts possible.
And what do you get when you print up money out of thin air?
Inflation is what you get. And if you’re the average American or investor – it’s likely hurting you.