> Yes, but gold, bitcoin, and giant rocks can't be inflated at will, which is what the OP was complaining about. Governments have been fiddling with metal-base

> Yes, but gold, bitcoin, and giant rocks can't be inflated at will, which is what the OP was complaining about. Governments have been fiddling with metal-based currencies going back to Ancient Rome and Han China: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigniorage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seigniorage Never mind what the general public has done as well: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_coin_debasement#Coin_clipping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_coin_debasement#Coi... See Bernstein. > With simulated pieces of green paper, you can just type some numbers into a computer and suddenly there are twice as many of them as there were before. Or a hundred times as many. Or a trillion times as many... Yup, and that's how private banks create loans and mortgages: * https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/quarterly-bulletin/2014/q1/money-creation-in-the-modern-economy https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/quarterly-bulletin/2014/q1/m... Central banks do not create the money that the public uses in the economy, and the only money that the government creates is coins and bills via the their mints. Also, have you ever asked what happens when there isn't enough money? * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Slump_(15th_century) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Slump_(15th_century) * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bullion_Famine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Bullion_Famine * http://www.nber.org/chapters/c11482 http://www.nber.org/chapters/c11482 And it's not like 'hard money' brings any more stability: * https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/why-the-gold-standard-is-the-worlds-worst-economic-idea-in-2-charts/261552/ https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/08/why-the... * https://archive.ph/FWKcL https://archive.ph/FWKcL