I honestly don't know how people could believe that you can print trillions of dollars out of nowhere in the matter of a few years and not expect to face severe consequences as a result. It is nothing more than a counterfeiter sending counterfeit bills into the marketplace. The currency gets diluted, prices go up, and the hardships start.

Believe it or not, the Founding Fathers were some of the few who actually understood this. Paper money was briefly tried by the colonies in an effort to pay off the massive debt accumulated during the Revolutionary War with a great lack of success. Once the war was over and a monetary system had to be put in place, paper money was very unpopular and with the 1792 Coinage Act the mint was established and the backed-money system put into place. The penalty for counterfeit, embezzlement, and fraud from any employee or officer of the mint? Death. Times sure have changed.

I am not exactly saying that the best way to go is to return to the monetary policies of way back when. What I am saying is that Founders had firsthand experienced and seen what harm paper money brought to the economy and country. Fiat monetary systems have been played and experimented with dozens of times throughout all of history all around the world. The one thing all these experiments have in common is that the system collapsed and was no longer sustainable. Fiat money leads to a worthless currency, higher prices, and economic stability. And while I absolutely hope that I am wrong, I don't see why today it would be any different with the U.S. and the major economies around the world.

A fiat monetary system has other negative impacts. Easy money and easy credit from the Fed has taken a lot of the focus off of long-term results and sustainability and has rather put all the attention on short-term results, regardless of where that road leads. While the blame will most likely continue to be on capitalism and lack of regulation, hopefully somewhere along the line the blame will finally be brought to the Federal Reserve. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.