Quote from Ed Breen:
Back in the 1950's Investment was 55% of the GDP; today it is less than 14%. There was no inflation to speak of back then when we adhered to Bretton Woods. Wealth is a product of investment; not consumption. We stopped investing and we started consumming and used inflation to create an illusion that we were wealthy...we collected stuff; not assets...and soon two had to work to keep up with the cost of stuff...we have been consuming more and investing in real assets less, and now we can't even promote enough inflation to cover up the truth that our wealth has declined and our stuff is not an asset.