Germany 1920sFrom the "Economics Of Inflation" by Constantino Bresciani Turroni
Powerful groups are interested in the maintenance of the premium on gold and even in its increase. If steps are taken for the improvement of the circulation, the powerful party of the protectionists opposes them with all the means at its disposal. Bankers and industrialists are in agreement.
There is no doubt that the paper inflation would not have assumed such vast proportions if it had not been favoured in many ways by the people who drew a large profit from it. It is clear from the discussions held in 1922 and 1923 in the “Economic Council of the Reich,” that representatives of those classes used their influence on the Government to impede the reform of the public finances and to sabotage all proposals for the stabilization of the German exchange, which they only accepted when, at last, an economic catastrophe threatened Germany and it was evident that the consequences of the inflation Would rebound, against their authors. Without making the exaggerated statement that the depreciation of the mark was due to a conspiracy of the industrial classes, it is certain, - nevertheless, that they contributed largely to it, aided by the agriculturists who saw the lightening of the burden of their mortgages, which before the war was very heavy, and by all the other people who prospered owing to the continued depreciation of the national money. Such obvious and conspicuous advantages for producers could be derived from this phenomenon, that naturally they because the most convinced supporters of monetary inflation 4 While sale prices rapidly
The Dawes Committee also observed, in its Report, that the wealthy classes in Germany had not, in the last years, borne a fiscal burden adequate to their means. Nothing exasperated and irritated the lower classes so much as the state of affairs in which those who were the strongest economically, and who by the general ruin had been able to reap great advantages, contributed to the payment of taxes less than all the others.
the spirit of speculation spread in all classes of society result of the inflation. For the inflation made all values unstable, and obliged many of the working classes and those with small incomes to seek profits on the Bourse in order to supplement their incomes which were continually being reduced by the monetary depreciation. But even industrialists were diverted from productive work and became speculators on the Bourse: it being obvious that fortunate dealings in securities and foreign exchange could be much more profitable than the constant hard work involved in trying to improve production.
Free sh*t for everybody, hugh unimaginable debt, rampant speculation, TSLA, Bitcoin, etc
... at least Gold won't go to zero