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Chart 1 · Purchasing power

What one 1971 dollar buys today

$0.13 A dollar held since 1971 buys what 13 cents bought then. About 87% of its purchasing power is gone.1BLS CPI-U · 2025 annual average

Hatched: purchasing power lost since 1971. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U all items, annual averages 1971 to 2025 (series CUUR0000SA0), dataset data/cpi.json, updated 2026-09-20. Check any year in the purchasing power calculator.

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The dollar has lost about 87% of its purchasing power since 1971. Money creation is the root cause, and Bitcoin is the better alternative.

[1] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPI-U annual averages, 1971 and 2025. See Chart 1.

That is an argument, not proof. Read both sides and judge it yourself.

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Sources

  1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), all items, U.S. city average, annual averages (series CUUR0000SA0), bls.gov/cpi. 1971: 40.5; 2025: 321.943. Site dataset data/cpi.json, updated 2026-09-20.

Last updated 2026-10-14. Not financial advice. Do your own research.