follows debt as governments eventually respond by printing money to cover what they owe. This lowers the value of paper currency by flooding supply, forcing investors somewhere else — somewhere not tied to government bills.

In reducing the purchasing power of currency, inflation has insidious and unavoidable effects on the stock market. When inflation is high, consumers can purchase fewer goods, and the cost of production increases through higher input costs. This ultimately translates to revenue and profit declines, causing share prices to tumble.

So stocks, while arguably safer than cash during times of reckless inflation, are tied to it nonetheless.

But you can’t print gold like you can print dollar bills, nor can you derive its value from quarterly earnings reports. This