RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Monkfish tastes like lobsterMiftee9, Yeah I get Bloomberg TV US here, which I listen to a lot like it were a radio. One analyst looked at possible paths that we could take from where we are now. One of the possible outcomes he identified was that inflation could eventually lead to deflation which would be catastrophic.
Here's his thinking: Lenders won't lend out money at less than the inflation rate, regardless of central bank rates because they'd lose money otherwise. So real interest rates will explode upwards. This will cause a surge in defaults and bankruptcies. Consumption will fall. Less demand requires less supply. People will lose jobs exacerbating the bankruptcies, defaults and demand destruction. It would create a feed back loop that would be impossible to break out of as prices drop because even people with money would decrease buying in expectation of even lower future prices.
Now here's the kicker. In our central bank backed fractional reserve monetary system when loans go into default the money simply dissapears. The money supply implodes. Money, credit becomes very scarce. Interest rates, which are simply the cost to rent somebody else's money, would skyrocket constraining demand even more.
Now the catastrophic part. The planet would be awash with piles of unsold inventory and hoards of angry, unemployed people. Civil unrest would dominate, wars would break out. In other words a replay of "the roaring 20s followed by the Great Depression followed by World War 2.
So what to do? Gold, silver, crypto, commodities, food, dollars hidden under your mattress? Who knows? The analyst pointed out that people would definitely hoard cash because money sitting in a shoe box in the attic collecting zero interest is still increasing in buying power as prices fall. So I'm leaning towards commodities like oil because people will always need energy and food so demand will be, at least, stable.