Good question John, not that I know of, I will however provide my own guess as to the potential psychological stages of hyperinflation.
I think right now we are somewhere between 2 and 3.
Stage 1 - Ridicule- inflation 5%
- those who are expecting hyperinflation are lunatics or conspiracy theorists
- inflation is low, rising house prices do not constitute inflation
- hyperinflation cannot happen here
- the Fed will not print money, because the Fed is a "private" bank
- nobody is able to stop "Kondratieff Winter"
Stage 2 - Denial- inflation 8-10%
- Rising prices are not inflation, it is just a one-time adjustment in price structure
- Low bond yields tell us that inflation is low and will stay low
- commodity prices are in a speculative bubble
- the Fed is powerless to stop deflation
- hyperinflation cannot happen, because demand is dropping and wages are not rising
- the Fed is a "private " bank and will not give money away
- recession is on the way
Stage 3 - Acceptance- inflation 12-15%
- Something is really wrong with the CPI
- Unemployment is rising, wages are flat and yet prices are still skyrocketing, what the hell is going on ?
- Why is M3 rising at almost 20% ?
- They are "lying" about true inflation rate
- It doesn't pay to save anymore
- Dollar is no good
- Interest rates are much lower than inflation rate
Stage 4 - Anger- inflation 20-25%
- The dollar is still dropping like a rock
- Is the Fed monetizing private and public debt ?
- The Fed is probably covertly bailing out banks and brokerages
- My life savings are being wiped out
- Why should I pay to bailout the thieves ?
- Why are government employees making so much money ?
- These 100 million dollar paychecks of CEO's are pi.... me off
- No way in hell I will continue to pay my mortgage if the deadbeats are getting government cash
- Everybody around is embezzling and stealing money, why should I put in 12 hour days anymore
- The crime is way up around here, it is not safe anymore
- How could I be so stupid ?
Stage 5 - Fear- inflation 30%-50%
- With prices rising so fast, how will I put food on the table
- No way I will be able to pay the heating bill this winter
- Gosh, is this the best that I can provide for my kids ?
- My savings will become worthless soon
- I have to buy some gold
- We have to buy this now, it will get more expensive later
- We have to liquidate our savings, we are losing 20% a year
- I worked hard and saved all my life and now I have nothing
Stage 6 - Panic- inflation 100% or higher
- Get everything out of the bank now and buy gold at any price
- Make sure you cash and spend your paycheck early
- We are going to Wal-Mart to buy anything we can still get our hands on
- Does anybody have any gold for sale ?
- Are they accepting anybody in Australia, no ?, how about Brazil ?
- They are giving $1 New Dollar for 1,000 old, but the limit is only 50,000 old.
- They rejected our visa application |
