Inflation surged to a 40-year high in June 2022, with the consumer price index (CPI) soaring 9.10% year over year (5). The cost of essentials like food and housing remains stubbornly high.“There won't be a default — the central bank will come in, and we'll print the money and buy it,” he says. “And that's where there's the depreciation of money.” Americans are all too familiar with the central bank’s quantitative easing (printing money) during the pandemic — and the resulting loss of purchasing power.When a ...