And their value is upheld through corrupt market manipulation, cartel pricing and conflict exploitation.

No worse than gold from an economic standpoint, but equally pointless and arbitrary

Diamonds can also be manufactured.

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/


Its "comforting" to know, that in my lifetime, from the time i graduated high school in the 90's, to the present; the value of the dollar has inflated 66%, or in other words, has lost over half its value from then to now.

:yep:

Back in the mid-'70s I worked for Utah's sole hobby distributor, Douglas Models. Jack Douglas, the owner, once told me that new money is worth less but real money doesn't devalue. His example was the common saying then that at the turn of the 20th century you could buy a steak dinner for a quarter. Jack said that a quarter from 1890 would still buy a steak dinner.

I always thought that was an interesting way to look at it.