What about megainflation? Or superinflation? I know the cost of medical, housing, and education has gone up an order of magnitude where I live in Los Angeles in the last 20 years.
The timescales involved are much larger, giving you ample time to spend or invest the money you have. It's only a problem if you stuff money under your mattress.
I'm not convinced. I don't think it's reasonable to expect every single person to be an investor in anything other than sensible necessities, such as education and property, in order to live a comfortable life. Quantitative easing as a mechanism for stimulating growth is nothing but theft from the non-investor class. I haven't "stuffed money under my mattress" and I'm struggling to not go into debt living in L.A. as an engineer of 20 years even though my salary is in the top 10% percentile for my experience and title. That's absurd. The house I'm renting doubled in value in the last 4 years. My income is going up slower than housing prices, so I've missed the boat, and will not be able to buy a house unless I move. Inflation has had a real and significant impact on my life.
I don't think wage stagnation has much to do with inflation. If the USD stayed steady or was deflationary, I imagine that nothing about your purchasing power would fundamentally change, the numbers would just look a little different.