The Cost of Living Is Falling Fast… Relative to Gold


<p>Americans are feeling the pinch when it comes to price inflation. Rising prices are a political football with politicians on both sides of the aisle eager to pin blame on the other party.</p>
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<p>Both sides are correct. Politicians, along with the central bank they created and continue to endorse, are fully responsible for the affordability crisis and the fading American dream.</p>
<p>Few young people can afford to buy a home. Simply paying rent and buying groceries is out of reach for some. Politicians may try to leverage this growing frustration, but their solutions have not helped.</p>
<p>Most Americans don&rsquo;t understand the root of the problem. Prices are not going higher. Instead, the U.S. dollar (like other fiat currencies) is going down the drain.</p>
<p>If more people understood the yardstick that we use for prices &ndash; the dollar &ndash; was being debased, it would change the way they invest and save.</p>
<p>The best way to illustrate what is happening with prices is to use a different yardstick. Take a look at what has happened to prices measured against gold.</p>
<p>Housing is a good place to start.</p>
<p>According to the U.S. Census, the average home price in 2000 was $119,600. The average gold price for that year was $279/oz. That means it took roughly 429 ounces of gold to buy a home.</p>
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<p>In 1970, it took 665 ounces of gold to buy the average house.</p>
<p>Today, the median home price is $410,000, while gold is currently priced at roughly $3,660/oz.</p>
<p>It now takes just 112 ounces of gold to buy a home. Home prices have fallen dramatically over the past 55 years, if you measure with a more reliable yardstick.</p>
<p>How would home affordability look for young people if they began saving for down payments using gold rather than dollars?</p>
<p>Let&rsquo;s take a look at groceries. The typical U.S. household spent $1,140/year on groceries in 1970. That would have been the equivalent of 32 ozs of gold.</p>
<p>In 2000, the annual cost of groceries was $2,900.00 or about 10-&frac12; ounces in gold equivalent.</p>
<p>Last year, the average household spent $6,053 on groceries, while the average gold price was $2,389/oz. The price of groceries relative to gold had fallen to just 2-&frac12; ounces.</p>
<p>What happened to the cost of healthcare since 1970 is also interesting. Households spent $356 on average that year, not quite 10 ounces in gold equivalent.</p>
<p>Thirty years later, the average cost of healthcare in dollars had risen to $2,129. But it fell to about 7-&frac12; ounces of gold.</p>
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<p>In 2024, households spent an average of $6,168. That is just 2-&frac12; ounces of gold equivalent.</p>
<p>The trend is similar for virtually all items included in Americans' cost of living. Costs are exploding in terms of dollars, but they are collapsing relative to gold.</p>
<p>It is, unfortunately, next to impossible for most Americans to completely avoid being caught by the decline of the dollar.</p>
<p>After all, wages are paid in dollars, and people need dollars to pay the bills.</p>
<p>Unless politicians are talking about a return to honest money &ndash; dollars which are redeemable in gold &ndash; they aren&rsquo;t offering a genuine solution to the problem.</p>
<p>In the meantime, Americans should do what they can to implement a personal gold standard. That is to say, put excess savings into gold (and silver) rather than dollars and avoid investments in fixed dollar assets &ndash; such as CDs or bonds.</p>

      



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