Two Types of Wealth: How Fiat Currency Tilted the Balance

How did abandoning the gold standard in 1971 reshape wealth distribution in America? This episode explores how our monetary system drives inequality through the Cantillon Effect, asset inflation, and forced speculation. Drawing from insights by economist Bob Murphy, financial analyst Lyn Alden, and philosopher Troy Cross, we examine why wealth inequality has grown 20 times faster than income inequality since 1971, with the Forbes 400 seeing a staggering 5,400% increase in wealth while median household income grew just 255%. Discover how monetary policy systematically favors asset owners over wage earners, creating two distinct paths to wealth.This is the third in our series examining insights from our recent roundtable on the gold standard counterfactual. In previous essays, we explored how the US economy could be 70% larger had Nixon fortified the gold standard in 1971. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit robertdewey3.substack.com/subscribe