March 30, 2026
Not a drip—four splashes
72% of the dollar's purchasing power was destroyed in just four episodes
Not a slow leak: four price spikes and a fiery comment war
TLDR: A century of data says most price damage hit in four bursts, leaving the dollar down nearly 97% since 1914. Comments brawl over panic vs perspective: some see shock “regime breaks,” others say recent decades look managed and want wage and global currency context.
A data drop just poked the inflation bear, and the comments lit up. One user compiled 1,357 months of Consumer Price Index data (that’s the government’s cost-of-living yardstick) and says the dollar didn’t fade slowly—it got whacked in bursts. Four big episodes—World War I, World War II and the post-war boom, the late-’60s to early-’80s “Great Inflation,” and the 2021–2023 post-COVID surge—did 72% of the damage. The headline stat shocked newbies: since 1914, the dollar’s purchasing power is down 96.9%, with the CPI jumping from 10.0 to 327.5. Cue the “money printer go brrr” memes.
But the crowd split fast. The author’s crew calls it proof of regime breaks, not a leak. Skeptics push back: one commenter insists the last ~50 years look “pretty steady,” pointing to calmer prices after the ’80s. Another shrugs that the title oversells it, noting the episodes span roughly a quarter of the timeline. Pragmatists chime in: what about wages and other countries? Meanwhile, history buffs flex that the Great Inflation alone caused 30% of the damage, and deflation hasn’t shown up since 2015. The current inflation rate (2.4%) is middling by history, and the median is above the Fed’s 2% target. The only thing rising faster than CPI? The takes link.
Key Points
- •The U.S. dollar has lost 96.9% of its purchasing power since January 1914 as the CPI rose from 10.0 to 327.5 (32.7×).
- •Four inflationary episodes (WWI, WWII/post‑war, Great Inflation, post‑COVID) produced 72% of cumulative price increases while spanning only 29% of the period.
- •The Great Inflation (1968–1982) alone accounts for 30.2% of cumulative purchasing power destruction, with CPI rising from 34.1 to 97.7.
- •Deflation occurred in 13.0% of months since 1914 but has been absent since April 2015; the Great Depression saw ~27% price declines (1930–1933).
- •Of 1,345 months with year‑over‑year data, 61.6% exceeded the Fed’s 2% target; the median annual inflation is 2.7%, and the current reading is 2.4% (46th percentile).