Inflation

A Dollar's Worth - Purchasing Power of the U.S. Dollar
Click to embiggenate

I like graphs and this one is pretty good, though it makes the last 40 years of devaluation seem insignificant compared to the earlier 70 years. I don't understand why the dollar fell so far, so fast between 1915 and 1920 (the very left hand side of the chart). Weren't we on the gold standard then? Did the amount of gold suddenly increase? Something weird going on there.

A bit of trivia for you: while a dollar can get you a small cup of coffee at McDonald's, it can also get you a large cup of coffee, which seems a little odd until you realize the cost of providing you with a cup of coffee is probably about 75% labor and rent and 25% coffee and cup.

Via ZeroHedge