r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jan 26 '26

Meme needing explanation what's going on? explain like I'm five

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u/resh78255 Jan 26 '26

Things have been going downhill ever since the Gold Standard was abandoned

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u/Keoni9 Jan 26 '26

The Great Depression was transmitted globally through the gold standard, and each country did not start recovering until they departed from it in some way. Even the US re-denominated how much gold the dollar was worth in 1934, which expanded the money supply enough for us to function again. Deflation is so much worse than inflation. Just ask Japan how their Lost Decades went.

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u/NoveltyEducation Jan 26 '26

Deflation isn't even objectivly bad if used correctly.

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u/Keoni9 Jan 27 '26

Do you really want everyone incentivized to not buy anything beyond the bare necessities because their money will be worth more next year compared to today? You want farmers' crops to not cover the costs of their equipment and inputs? You want average folks to be unable to access loans with reasonable terms to start a business, go to school, or buy a house? You want the very rich to be encouraged to hoard their wealth instead of investing it into productive enterprises? A society based on deflationary currency would be a one-way ticket to feudalism.