[WalterBright]

> deflation would just make the whole economy collapse

All we have to do is look at history to disprove that. From 1800 to 1914, for example, the USA had periods of inflation and deflation netting out to zero.

[littlestymaar]

This was a super messy economic era for the US with a shit ton of economic crisis and monetary issues were a big part of the mess, that's why the Fed ended up being created.

[WalterBright]

Most of that was due to the government's attempts to manipulate the money, such as bimetalism.

We've also had quite a history of crashes, crises, inflation, etc., since the Fed was created.