This barely touches on the basics, but it should show some general trends.

A 1915 dollar has $23.24 in purchasing power today. Gold averaged $18.99 per troy ounce.

A 1940 dollar has $16.77 in purchasing power today. Gold averaged $33.85 per troy ounce.

A 1950 dollar has $9.94 in purchasing power today. Gold averaged $34.72 per troy ounce.

A 1965 dollar has $7.52 in purchasing power today. Gold averaged $35.12 per troy ounce.

A 1980 dollar has $3.06 in purchasing power today. Gold averaged $615.00 per troy ounce.

A 1999 dollar has $1.43 in purchasing power today. Gold averaged $278.98 per troy ounce.

A 2008 dollar has $1.11 in purchasing power today. Gold averaged $871.96 per troy ounce.

A 2011 dollar has $1.07 in purchasing power today. Gold averaged $1571.52 per troy ounce.

I’ll spare you the accounting explanation. What you should take away from this is that government rigs these prices so it can draw profit on your loss. Between the currency and the price of gold, you’re losing money.

It gets worse.

When it comes to “investments” on anything from a bank passbook account to stocks to bonds, if your return on investment (ROI) is less than the inflation rate, then you are losing money and government gets the difference.

It’s a rigged game. You can’t win except with very high stakes and if the government backs your play.

So this entry ends with a simple question.

Who rigged the game?

Tags: economic freedom ∙ gold ∙ dollar ∙ 1915 ∙ 1940 ∙ 1950 ∙ 1965 ∙ 1980 ∙ 1999 ∙ 2008 ∙ 2011