Inflation is just another tax created by the government. Inflation is a bigger threat now than it has ever been because of governments' behavior, as politicians think of their career and prestige so much they do things for people who finance their campaigns rather than for the country. Once one politician start a program, it's impossible to take it away and it costs money the government doesn't have (it doesn't want to raise taxes) so it creates money (deficit spending, quantitative easing means printing money and buying government bonds). Inflation is an expansion of the money supply. Because the number of stuff is the same, the price goes up as a consequence, and the value of money goes down. There is no real growth, it's just inflation. Prices should go down due to technical advances, we don't need the 2% inflation: we buy things when we need them and don't need to be pressured with rising prices. A balance must be found between spending and taxing. Inflation is the worst tax as it mostly impact the ones in need: poor people, middle class, retirees. The upper class has assets financed with dept that is lessened by inflation. Over the years, the CPI (Consumer Price Index) has been changed from a regular basket to a cherry-picked engineered one (home prices and rents used to be in it). On top of rising prices, quality went down. Housing and renting prices is sky-rocketing, meaning it's good for owner and bad for buyers. It is ok to borrow from the future if it's for the future to benefit from (bridges, nuclear power plants), otherwise it's stealing. Because every currency is unreliable, you should rely on the least unreliable one and maybe change country, but it's even better to rely on real money that is not controlled by any government: gold. Gold is the best preserver of value. Price is what you pay, value is what you get. Value of currencies and cryptos is only the faith in it (capitalism is all about trusting third parties) while gold is the metal with the best intrinsic value. Governments don't want to compete with gold so they create laws make its use difficult. Keep some cash for daily use and see gold as money. Stocks can go down in value but rise in price. As gold doesn't grow in real value, you must still invest in non-overpriced things.
Peter SchiffStates live off the wealth produced by people and are always hungrier. We are enslaved from birth. All solutions are just controls and taxes. The state spends, promises, talks. The administration knows everything about us. The state would have a monopoly on the truth and indoctrinates the French, we must think freely. The state has too many rights, too many controls. Behind altruism and surface anti-racism, it locks us in boxes and divides us rather than uniting us to better destroy us. The state rejoices in discord. Everyone thinks but no one does anything for fear of rejection and discomfort. We must produce instead of consuming, educate ourselves instead of playing. Be the change, inspire your loved ones, build community. Joseph Goebbels said "The bigger the lie, the more it gets through. The more often it is repeated, the more people believe it.". Civilized means disarmed and the fall of France is first and foremost the fall of French people. We must regain control over ourselves, our lives, our income, our physical appearance, our environment. 5 forms of freedom: financial (working for ourselves and not the state without being a slave to costs), temporal (doing X when we want), geographical (living where we want), physical (your body is your temple), psychic (thinking for yourself, questioning, searching, having strong convictions). Do not dream of freedom, fight for it. Help yourself before helping others. More than land, you must defend your convictions. Live your life to end it with a smile on your lips rather than by proxy. Take the initiative. Do not pray for an easy life but for the strength to endure a difficult life. A life without problems is a life without flavor. It is in difficulty that we discover ourselves.
Louis EsquierThe most adapted is the most powerful but is also the most fragile because, in the event of a change in environment, the most adaptive survives. Having more information does not necessarily mean being simpler. The simpler it is, the more powerful and fair it is. Do not forget the noise when looking at a signal. We have the right not to be able to conclude, especially when we are an honest scientist, and this makes the rare certainties highly valued. The heavier a structure becomes, the more fragile it becomes. Joseph Schumpeter identified 5 types of innovations that can play a key role in economic growth: innovation of products, processes, production methods, outlets, raw materials. According to David Ricardo's theory of comparative advantages, it does not matter whether a country has absolute advantages or not: it gains by specializing in the production of goods for which its comparative advantage is the highest, that is to say whose relative costs are the lowest, and by exchanging the goods that it does not produce. Once the optimum is reached, there is no more growth except in numbers. Empires always collapse through the center. The entrepreneur is the enemy of the socialist (Joseph Schumpeter vs David Ricardo), but you need both. The entrepreneur is anti-fragile because he lasts in the long term. Apple is fragile because it is optimized. The simple, regular, universal, and low-volatility portfolio to stay rich at a few % per year over the long term is 25% bonds, 25% stocks, 25% cash, 25% gold because it anticipates all scenarios.
Didier Darcet