Since 1971: research notesWorldwide inflation since 1900, and the financial system that caused it.https://since1971.org/2026-05-07T00:00:00ZSince 1971https://since1971.orghttps://since1971.org/favicon.svghttps://since1971.org/og.jpgWhat Is Moneyhttps://since1971.org/read/01-foundations/01-what-is-money2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00ZBefore any argument about inflation, the reader needs an honest answer to the prior question: what is money? The textbook answer (a medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value) is correct as far as it goes. It does not explain why a piece of paper or a bank-credit…What Is Inflationhttps://since1971.org/read/01-foundations/02-what-is-inflation2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00ZThe word "inflation" is the most contested term in monetary economics, and the contest is not academic. The definition you accept determines what you blame for rising prices, what policies you support, and whether you can recognise the cause when it is happening to you. This…Classical Gold Standard 1815 to 1913https://since1971.org/read/02-history/01-classical-gold-standard-1815-19132026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00ZThe century between Waterloo and the First World War is the empirical control case for monetary economics. For roughly one hundred years the British pound, and from 1879 the United States dollar, were defined as fixed weights of gold. Banknotes were redeemable on demand. Central…The Federal Reserve Act of 1913https://since1971.org/read/02-history/02-federal-reserve-act-19132026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00Z> "Picture a party of the nation's greatest bankers stealing out of New York on a private railroad car under cover of darkness, stealthily traveling hundreds of miles south, embarking on a small launch, sneaking onto an island deserted by all but a few servants, living there a…Bretton Woods and the Nixon Shockhttps://since1971.org/read/02-history/03-bretton-woods-and-nixon-shock2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00ZThe dollar was redeemable in gold for foreign central banks from 1944 until 9pm on Sunday August 15 1971. That Sunday night, in a televised address pre empted into the middle of the popular western series Bonanza, the President of the United States announced that the redemption…Hyperinflation Case Studies: The Mechanism in Plain Sighthttps://since1971.org/read/02-history/04-hyperinflation-case-studies2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00Z## Why These Cases MatterGermany 1933 to 1939: Work Based Money and the Schacht Mechanismhttps://since1971.org/read/02-history/05-germany-1933-work-based-money2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00Z## Reading Note: What This Page Is And What It Is Not2008 to 2026: The Late Stage of the Post 1971 Fiat Regimehttps://since1971.org/read/02-history/06-2008-to-2026-late-stage-fiat2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00Z## Reading Note: What This Page IsCBDCs and the Next Stage of the Fiat Regimehttps://since1971.org/read/02-history/07-cbdcs-and-the-next-stage2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00ZThe fiat credit system that began in 1913 with the Federal Reserve Act and was completed in 1971 with the closure of the gold window operates today through a two tier money structure. The central bank issues base money (reserves and physical cash); commercial banks issue the…Money Creation: How Banks Actually Make Money Out of Nothinghttps://since1971.org/read/03-mechanisms/01-money-creation-fractional-reserve2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00ZThis is the most important file in the knowledgebase. If you do not understand what is on this page, every other inflation chart you look at is a black box.The Cantillon Effect and the Mechanics of Upward Wealth Transferhttps://since1971.org/read/03-mechanisms/02-cantillon-effect-and-wealth-transfer2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00Z## The Argument in One ParagraphCPI Manipulation and the Measurement of Inflationhttps://since1971.org/read/03-mechanisms/03-cpi-manipulation-and-measurement2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00ZThe Consumer Price Index is the single most cited number in modern macroeconomics. It sets cost of living adjustments on Social Security, indexes tax brackets, anchors central bank policy, deflates GDP, and frames every news story about prices. It is also a constructed number…Taxation as the Second Extraction Layerhttps://since1971.org/read/03-mechanisms/04-taxation-as-second-extraction2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00Z## The Argument in One ParagraphReal Wages, Debt, and Purchasing Power: 1971 to 2026https://since1971.org/read/05-effects/01-real-wages-debt-purchasing-power2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00Z> The CPI says inflation has averaged about 4 percent a year since 1971 and is "back near 2 percent" today. The household balance sheet says something very different. This page measures the gap, in primary data, in the only currency a worker actually spends, hours of life.Central Banks, the BIS, and the Bretton Woods Twinshttps://since1971.org/read/06-actors/01-central-banks-and-bis2026-05-07T00:00:00Z2026-05-07T00:00:00ZThe global monetary system in 2026 is operated by a network of approximately sixty central banks, coordinated through a private bank in Basel, governed by rules written by committees that no electorate has ever voted on. The institutions involved publish their own organisational…