The Dangerous Politics of Techno-Asset Inflation

Monetary inflation and technological revolution have combined to produce dangerous asset bubbles throughout history, from the precious-metal inflows and printing press of the Northern Renaissance to today’s digital-era boom in equities and speculative assets. The technology-driven productivity gains mask rising prices in goods markets, giving central banks cover to keep interest rates artificially low, fuel government borrowing, and let cronyism and malinvestment build beneath the surface.

The following article was originally published by the Mises Institute. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Peter Schiff or SchiffGold.

There is nothing new about the perils for peace and liberty which stem from the combination of monetary inflation and technological revolution. Indeed, we can find a prime illustration at the dawn of the modern age during the Northern Renaissance in Europe.

But first, towards better describing the peril, I urgently propose a new entry into the economics dictionary: techno-asset inflation. The definition is this: techno-asset inflation is found where monetary inflation and technological revolution interact to produce virulent asset inflation.