In this post I wanted to take another look at inflation. Especially since America and perhaps the world at large experienced a bout of inflationary dynamics recently.
A guest in 2021 wrote a post about how Copiosis mitigates inflation. In this post we’ll look at the process through different, simpler lenses.
In Copiosis, inflation doesn’t happen. It doesn’t happen mainly because of Copiosis’ unique attributes. The most influential attribute is how Copiosis eliminates money. Replacing money with Net Benefit Rewards plays a big role in eliminating inflation.
Today, people need other people’s money for their survival. The more money a person can get from others’ pockets, the better. And nearly every dollar, Yen or Krugerrand comes from someone’s pockets. That’s why, even when money gets created, it instantly creates debt too.
Inflation happens when people perceive either an opportunity to get more of other people’s money, or when they perceive a stronger need to get more of other people’s money. In other words, inflation is a result of human greed. Greed combined with our economy’s demand that people need money to survive.
How does eliminating money end inflation?
A little more about inflation
When items get scarce, their value increases. But nothing about the item per se changes. What changes is the demand for that thing. Assuming the thing was in demand in the first place.
Take masks for example in the time of the recent pandemic. Everyone wanted masks. But there weren’t enough to go around at first. The function or purpose of masks didn’t improve. They didn’t become suddenly better at doing what they do. But because people perceived, rightly, their importance, the demand for masks increased. And they were willing to pay more for them.
Mask makers realized this. Pretty much all mask makers are businesses. So while they make something potentially life-saving, they also must be profitable. Even though their product (masks) had not changed one iota in function, mask makers suddenly could charge a lot more for them.
In some cases they or resellers did charge more. A lot more.
In extreme shortages, irrational thinking prevails. Such thinking creates false shortages. A famous example during the pandemic was the extreme toilet paper shortage. But in most cases, inflationary pricing happens from rational thinking. Rational as in “I need other people’s money. Raising prices is the way to get more.”
This combination of rational and irrational thinking can cause inflation. It’s not an economic phenomena therefore. It’s a human one.
Getting more money
People perceive the need for more money. This is generally a constant perception. And an accurate one today. Everyone needs at least some money to survive in modern society.
So generally, people are conditioned to get as much money from others as possible. When circumstances offer an opportunity to do that more, it is very difficult for a person not to take advantage of it.
And this is why prices rise.
Even when legitimate shortages happen – in labor for example – the productive value of that thing – employees – doesn’t change. People don’t suddenly become better workers just because there are fewer of them. It is only the perception that they are more valuable. Valuable because there are fewer of them. This perception is held by both employers and employees alike.
And so employers and employees both will find themselves settling on more money for labor. Because employers need the labor. And laborers need the money. So the employers are willing to pay more to get them.
Take money out of the question though and everything changes.
The magic bullet
In Copiosis, people don’t need money. They don’t even need NBR to survive. Since necessities come at no cost to everyone, people don’t need to do anything really to get what they need. So necessity items aren’t subject to inflation. They have no cost at all in fact. Nor do they have prices.
What about luxuries? Luxuries have NBR gateways. Getting a luxury item requires one have sufficient NBR to meet the gateway. Why wouldn’t a luxury producer increase their gateways then? Wouldn’t that get the producer more NBR?
Well no, because producers’ NBR income isn’t dependent on gateway levels. Today, when you buy an item, the price you pay includes a portion of money that goes into the producer’s pocket. But when a consumer meets a gateway, the NBR used doesn’t go to the producer. It just disappears.
NBR that goes to the producer is brand new. It’s created from nothing. It doesn’t come from another person’s pocket. Furthermore, how much NBR a producer gets depends on how well she made her product. That and how well her product serves people and the planet.
It’s brilliant
There are ways anyone in Copiosis can increase their income. None of them involve taking money from people. They all do depend on one thing: creating more Net Benefit Value.
- Use fewer resources.
- Increase the benefits their thing produces.
- Benefit more people with their thing.
- Increase the thing’s positive impact on the planet or reduce its negative impact.
- Increase the thing’s positive impact on humanity.
- Do something relatively few other producers are doing.
Notice none of these negatively impact consumers. They all do the opposite, actually. Every act benefits people. Or they benefit the planet. So not only does Copiosis do away with pressures to increase prices. It also increases benefits for everyone.
And this is its brilliance. The system includes so many interactive elements. Elements that, taken together, make the world a better place. It does that in a novel way: By making people better. And it does that without forcing them to do anything they don’t want to do.
It’s the ultimate in the way it works. Which is why Copiosis earns its unique name.