when inflation comes, will you win or lose?

Judging from personal experience of living though hyperinflation in Ukraine, the only winners are those 1/2% of the population staying close to the money fountain in the nation capital - management of couple largest banks, top government officials and crony businessmen with personal connections in Government.

Other people are praying that their refrigerator or stove would not break, because if it would break they will be unable to buy a new one.

First, the government shutdown already tripled the interest rate we have to pay on short term Tbills. This was just one of the consequences of the Tea Party ignorance. Fortunately, it still is not anywhere close to 3%. Our credit rating however is still on a watch list, waiting to see what happens by the February deadline, so a lot will depend on what happens then.

But the main thing that would have to happen to raise the rates to 3% is that someone else would have to be offering bonds that people felt like were stable enough to be safer than US treasuries. That is not going to happen any time soon, since we still have the best economy around and people do not necessarily trust the Chinese, who are our closest competitor. The only other way the Fed would raise the rate that much is to CONTROL inflation, not cause it.

I am as diversified as I can get.

The only way I could be more prepared, would be to borrow more money and spend those dollars on durable assets such as real estate.

It is not like we have a choice in the matter.

We are 17 trillion in debt.

The President has no spending limit.

Congress has no budget to give the President.

Nothing can be done to stop what is coming.

Hope that helps.

Eventually the People will get tired of the ridiculous refusal of Congress to raise taxes to cover the war debt from Iraq and Afghanistan. The national income will be raised and the debt will be retired, just as it was when Truman and Eisenhower were President.

Blaming social programs is stupid. The huge deficit comes from a tax cut while the nation was at war, and we will literally have to pay for it before things improve.

As for me, I was born with a trust fund and have an MD and a thriving practice. Things will have to get very bad indeed before I feel it.

If we get harmful inflation (over 3%), it will be due to:

1, a war or an emergency requiring rationing, or

2. bank lending.

Inflation is due to too much money chasing too few goods. Except for scarce commodities (energy), there are always enough goods during a recession and never too much money. That is why inflation comes only during prosperity.

During prosperity, inflation is always due only to too much money lent by banks, which lend $6 of credit for every deficit dollar spent by government.

To stop inflation, don't curb infrastructure spending! Regulate the banks!

I will be a winner, because nothing would delight me more than for Social Security to just "go away"....MILLIONS of truly ignorant Americans currently treat Social Security as a "Retirement Plan" when in reality it is simply a Safety Net for the unfortunate & unlucky....

Are you REALLY "comfortable" with the reality that John McCain (or more probably one of his overpaid minions) continues to cash his monthly Social Security checks in spite of having "drawn out" more than he ever "paid in" over two decades ago?

I wonder how many people can survive a complete collapse of the economy. I think that might be the only sensible way to fix it. I own land where I hunt and grow my own food, so I'm ok. But what about city dwellers, what happens to them?

I think you should just start reading Krugman's blog because this threat of high inflation if cons don't get their way has never materialized.

lol... I've been hearing this story from cons for about 20 years now?