Thank you Glenn Beck

"Dear Glenn:

Back in September I finally made the move.  After reading your column (here) discussing the Fed's extension of QE3 I was convinced.  Hyperinflation was on the imminent horizon.  So heeding your warning I took all of my money out of banks (like you suggested), sold my stocks and bonds, and bought gold.  Fortunately your associates at Goldline were so willing to help me convert my life savings of USD 300,000 into gold coins.  Unfortunately that has not worked out so well.  At the time I bought gold it was selling for USD 1760 / toz.  Now - just 9 months later - gold is selling for USD 1223 / toz - down 32%.  Due to this move I have lost nearly USD 100,000  or 1/3 of my life savings - in just 9 months.  I am sincerely puzzled how this could happen considering that gold is the "safe haven" asset.  I can only surmise that the globalist bankers, the radical socialists, and their allies in the Muslim Brotherhood are conspiring to discredit you and your associates at Goldline.  On the positive side I have avoided the massive hyperinflation that we have experienced over the last year.  Since I invested in gold the CPI has risen from 231.6 to 231.8 a 1/10th of 1% increase.  Thank you so much for your help.

Your friend - ROB"

Ok in case you were wondering - I am not a moron.  I did not really put my life savings into gold.  But considering Glenn has nearly 1MM monthly listeners getting a constant dose of paranoia and gold-bug drivel I will bet that someone did exactly what I suggested in the above letter.  Again I am not a moron, I did not invest in gold, and there is no hyperinflation.  For more on this last point see Paul Krugman's response to Eric Erickson on the price of milk and bread (see here). 

Actually to put this into perspective the writer of the fictitious letter above lost 1/3 of his savings over the last 9 months by investing in gold.  How far back would we have to go in order for the loss due to inflation to be equal to a loss of 1/3 of savings?  If you go back to June of 1996 the CPI was at 152.  Today the CPI is at 231.  Meaning that over the last 17 years a dollar has lost 1/3 of its purchasing power due to inflation  (152/231 = .66).  That is assuming you earned 0 interest on your savings.