The Dollar Is Dying

If you tell someone the U.S. dollar has lost over 96% of its value since 1913, most people shrug. That’s just a number, right?

But here’s the reality: the dollar you hold today buys only a fraction of what it once did. This isn’t a conspiracy theory or financial doomsaying—it’s a slow, steady erosion that’s been happening for over a century.

And yet… hardly anyone notices.

Why?

Boiling Frog Economics

You’ve probably heard the old metaphor:
If you put a frog in boiling water, it jumps out. But if you slowly heat the water, it stays put until it’s too late.

That’s what dollar devaluation looks like. If the currency were to collapse overnight, there’d be panic in the streets. But a few percentage points a year? People adapt.

They grumble about prices going up, but they rarely connect it to the deeper issue: the slow death of their money.

People Think in Prices, Not Purchasing Power

We’re not wired to think about the value of money—we think about the price of stuff.

When your morning coffee goes from $2 to $3.50, you don’t think, “The dollar is weakening.” You just say, “Wow, inflation’s rough.”

But that same coffee might’ve cost 25 cents in the 1970s. Did the beans get that much better? Not really. The dollar just got weaker.

The Psychology of Devaluation

A few key mental traps help mask what’s going on:

• Money illusion – We focus on nominal dollar amounts, not their actual value. A $1,000 paycheck feels the same in 2000 and 2025—even though it buys a lot less today.

• Recency bias – We remember recent prices, but we rarely think beyond the last few years.

• Normalcy bias – We assume tomorrow will look like today. That makes long-term decay hard to see.

Media and Messaging Keep It Quiet

You’ll rarely hear major media outlets talk about the value of the dollar declining. What you get instead is:

• “Prices are up 3.4% this year.”

• “Core inflation remains stable.”

• “Consumer sentiment slightly improved.”

But they’re describing symptoms, not the root cause.

Even CPI, the official inflation metric, has been revised multiple times over the decades—often to make the numbers look more favorable.

And politicians? No incentive to admit your money is shrinking on their watch.

What It Means for You

Dollar devaluation is not just academic. It affects your daily life in real, tangible ways:

• Wages don’t keep up. Your income may rise, but the cost of living rises faster.

• Savings melt. Keeping cash in the bank? You’re losing value year after year.

• Assets become essential. Real estate, stocks, gold, Bitcoin—these aren’t luxuries anymore. They’re tools to protect purchasing power.

Worst of all, it creates a false sense of stability. Everything seems fine—until it’s not.

What You Can Do About It

The first step is awareness. Most people don’t protect themselves because they don’t realize what’s happening.

• Adjust your thinking. Look at prices and wages in real (inflation-adjusted) terms.

• Own real assets. Consider vehicles that historically retain value better than fiat currency.

• Understand the system. The dollar’s slow devaluation isn’t a bug—it’s a feature. A way to manage debt, fund spending, and keep the machine going.

Bottom Line

The dollar isn’t crashing. It’s fading.

And like the boiling frog, the danger lies in staying comfortable as the heat rises. The good news? If you can see what’s happening, you’re already ahead of most.

Stay sharp. Stay curious. Protect your purchasing power.