The Fiat Standard

Overview

In lecture four, we explore fiat money—currency created by government decree rather than commodity backing—tracing its rise after wartime suspensions of the gold standard and the shift to central bank control of the money supply. We examine the quantity theory of money, showing that increases in money supply drive price levels and make central banks responsible for inflation. The lecture concludes that institutions like the Federal Reserve control inflation through monetary policy, challenging alternative explanations such as deficits or “greedflation” as primary causes of inflation.