I take your point that I’ve never really been asked to think about inflationary economies encouraging hoarding things, especially things whose scarcity stems fr

I take your point that I’ve never really been asked to think about inflationary economies encouraging hoarding things, especially things whose scarcity stems from natural limits rather than economic will. But at the risk of showing my naiveté—wouldn’t it be OK for me to exchange money for enough stuff for me to be content, as soon in my economic life as I can, and hold onto it? For that matter, isn’t it to my advantage that it’s economically desirable for landlords and car rental firms to let me rent a high-value item—like a car for the 3 days a year I need it, or an apartment in a city where I’m only going to live for a few years—instead of making me wait until I’ve made enough money to buy it outright before I can access it at all? Is the idea that if I could instead hoard currency of a fixed value, I would then not hoard naturally scarce things/resources that I judge likely to improve in value? Re: [1], see also HN discussion [2] (2020, 808 points, 454 comments) wrestling with the many competing theories about “what,” if anything specific, “happened in 1971.” It raises several possibilities outside the gold standard. See also a more substantial (or at least lengthier) methodological critique [3] (6 months ago, 40 points, 42 comments). The HN discussion includes reactions both of gold/bitcoin enthusiasts and of economically opinionated folks less committed to that way of seeing the world. [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25188457 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25188457 [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39144867 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39144867