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Your explanation doesn't make sense. If you actually do look at what happened with the inflationary dollar since the "late 19th century", it lost 96-97% of its purchasing power due to the monetary inflation.

Which means that if your grandma stored her wealth in dollars and wanted to pass it onto you, you can only enjoy 3-4% of what's left.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YTyPGaEsBcw/T0Kd1nS9zJI/AAAAAAAABQ...

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I was talking about the late 19th century. From 1860 to 1890, the USD gained roughly 50% in terms of purchasing power. Since the federal reserve got involved in open market operations in 1922 the USD has lost about 95% of its value.

Your explanation makes no sense.

Since 1928, the S&P has risen 5506%[1]. Over the same period, the dollar has lost 93% of its purchasing power. If you put a dollar on the market in 1928, it would be worth $808 (1928 dollars). A dollar under the mattress is instead worth $0.07 (1928 dollars). Investing had a return 11500-fold greater than hoarding cash.

[1]http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/...

[2]http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

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