[throwaway413]

Marginal value itself is unstable compared to real value. Sure, the amount of air you require may change, albeit insignificantly. Marginal value can go +/- total value at any moment due to external factors.

> Breathable air and drinkable water have the greatest real value of anything, but their marginal values are zero and near zero respectively for a number of reasons

Case in point. Sure, abundant now. But when they are not, which we know is actually happening, that “0 marginal value” will quickly become “whatever we can afford so we can survive”.

[once_inc]

The counter to this point is that if (through monetary mismanagement) the amount of dollars exponentially rises, the value of those dollers drop. Fiat isn't backed by a hard asset; it can be arbitrarily increased/decreased in value through organisations and unelected officials.

The original QE decision by the fed was taken during a meeting that has meeting notes that can be downloaded. I highly advise you to do so if you are under the illusion that the decision was made by highly competent experts basing their decisions on hard data and well-made, objective models.