If stuff gets cheaper to produce, and there's a fixed stock of money, I see no other outcome than deflation. In this case prices simply reflect that goods can b

If stuff gets cheaper to produce, and there's a fixed stock of money, I see no other outcome than deflation. In this case prices simply reflect that goods can be produced more efficiently. So, if USD inflation is, say, 5% and bond yields also 5%, then you would indeed make no money by holding USD-denominated bonds. But I would argue the problem is with USD inflation in this hypothetical, since bonds also yielded 5% during the international gold standard and yet we had 2% deflation. I would also argue that money is a sort of collectible; the only difference is that it's highly liquid. A painting might very well increase in value, but if you need to sell it quickly (as opposed to waiting six months for the right buyer) you can easily end up losing money -- if you can even find a buyer on short notice.