100 Years of Proof That Saving Your Money is a Losing Proposition

The US Federal Reserve targets a 2-3% inflation rate (or close to that) partly because they are scared out of their minds of deflation (ask Japan how over a decade of that has gone for them) and partly because it's easier to pay off $15 trillion of debt (if we can sell China, Japan, and the UK $100 in debt today, print $50 of money from thin air next year, the debt we issue is a bargain). Never mind the fact that your salary will increase 3% next year, if you're lucky, while your gasoline and food bills will go up by 20%.

You think it's coincidence that inflation is positive?  US inflation rate 1914 to 2011:

What's the big deal?  Positive inflation means the value of the basket of goods in the consumer price index increase over time because of improvements in the products: better TVs, better medicine, brand new apartments for rent, entertainment costs more because of CGI, softer/quilted toilet paper, and on and on.

Japan inflation rate: 1998 to 2011:

Or maybe it's because of loose monetary policy.  Maybe the govt is creating money from nothing by the strokes of the keyboard (some accounting wizardry of debits and credits in the assets of banks and the Treasury).

Money creation, money printing, and quantitative easing all lead to inflation/lower purchasing power.  Your money in your savings account loses value every year.  The policies of the US govt encourage spending and punish saving. 

If you think keeping your money in a savings account in a local bank will protect you from the world's most powerful countries competing to devalue their currencies, think again.

Source: http://minefund.com/wordpress/2011/03/28/purchasing-power-of-the-dollar-vs-gold/
Source: http://budwood.hubpages.com/hub/US-Dollar-Purchasing-Power
Source: http://www.tradingeconomics.com
Source: http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm#Question_7
Source: http://zerohedge.blogspot.com/2009/05/annihiliation-of-dollars-purchasing.html
Source: http://www.financialsensearchive.com/fsu/editorials/dollardaze/2009/0223.html