by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
An arcane device that impacts so much and papers over the struggles many Americans face in a world that is becoming increasingly unaffordable for them.
For anyone alive today, the US dollar has nearly always lost purchasing power with regards to consumer goods and services, such as food, cars, healthcare, or rent. There were a few brief periods when the dollar gained in purchasing power. But those periods are rare. And the Fed despises these situations when workers are able to buy a little more with the fruits of their labor.