Consider Germany in the 1920s. The Treaty of Versailles required Germany to pay reparations to its enemies from World War 1. So, this is different from the circumstance that we find ourselves in today, but the effect is the same. The Germans were too far in debt to other nations. They tried to get out of debt by simply printing money. The resulting hyperinflation has several anecdotes:
A woman goes to the store to buy a loaf of bread. Due to the extreme inflation, she must bring the money to buy the bread in a wheelbarrow. When she comes out of the store, she finds that she is the victim of theft. The thieves took her wheelbarrow. They left the money, because it was worthless.
People could drink a bottle of wine with dinner, then the next day, recycle the bottle for more than they had paid for the wine. That was the rate that German currency was devaluing.
I believe that the more gimmicks we try to unfold in the name of dodging inflation or maintaining the value of our currency. Eventually, we will have to exchange value for value and pay our debtors back.
We need to have low unemployment, we need to have manufacturing and intellectual property and goods that the rest of the world wants, we need to maintain priorities which address the needs of the rest of the world, and productively and effectively execute said priorities. If we fail to do this, you bet your life (and your children's wallets) that our currency will be worthless.
