'..fiat inflation is a powerhouse of social, economic, cultural, and spiritual destruction.' - Jörg Guido Hülsmann

'..fiat inflation is an inherently unstable way of producing money because it turns moral hazard and irresponsibility into an institution.'

'As Austrian economists have argued in some detail, fiat inflation is an inherently unstable way of producing money because it turns moral hazard and irresponsibility into an institution. The result is frequently recurring economic crises. Past efforts to repair these unwelcome effects, yet without questioning the principle of fiat inflation per se, have entailed a peculiar evolution of monetary institutions—some sort of an institutional "race to the bottom."

Important milestones of this process were fractional-reserve banking, national central banking, international central banking, and finally paper money. The devolution of monetary institutions has been on its way for centuries, and it has still not quite reached the absolute bottom, even though the process has accelerated very considerably in our age of paper money.

..

The foregoing considerations are by no means an exhaustive account of the cultural and spiritual legacy of fiat inflation. But they should suffice to substantiate the main point: that fiat inflation is a powerhouse of social, economic, cultural, and spiritual destruction.'

- Jörg Guido Hülsmann, The Cultural and Spiritual Legacy of Fiat Inflation



Context

The Mises University: Required Readings

Lecture notes (pdf)

Mises in America