Why Does Money Exist?

Maybe you felt it this week. You pay at the store, and the total is higher than it used to be — the same food cost a little less last year, and less the year before.

That feeling is real. It's not bad luck, and it's not because you're bad with money. The system was built to work this way.

It has a name: inflation. Most people know the word, but few of us were ever taught what it actually means.

Here's the simple version. Your money buys less over time — not because things get better, but because there's more money around than there used to be. More money, but the same amount of goods. So prices rise, and the money in your pocket slowly loses value.

Think of it like this. Imagine everyone in your city woke up tomorrow with an extra $10,000. Would everyone be richer? No — prices would just rise to match the new money. There's more money, but no more real wealth.

This has been happening slowly for years. A little at a time, quietly. Enough to feel at the store, but hard to put a name to. Now you can name it.

And here's the part that matters most: this isn't a mistake in the system. It's how the system works. Which leads to an obvious question — if your money keeps losing value, who decides how much new money gets made?

That's where we go tomorrow.

Tomorrow: someone is making new money right now — and it isn't you.