This article was written by Brandon Smith and originally published at Birch Gold Group

In early 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic hysteria I noted that the covid panic seemed to perfectly coincide with the Federal Reserve's acceleration of interest rates and and asset dumping. This trend, I argued, was a precursor to a Catch-22 scenario I have been warning about for some time.

Since the crash of 2008, the central bank has used stimulus measures and near-zero interest rates to protect "too big to fail" corporations while keeping debt structures afloat globally. Doing this required the digital printing of tens of trillions of fiat dollars and, inevitably, a sharp devaluation in the Greenback.

I predicted that this would lead to stagflationary conditions (which finally hit in 2022), and the conundrum of inflation vs. deflation. The Federal Reserve could continue to keep rates low and ignore inflationary pressures in order to avoid a debt implosion. Or, they could significantly raise interest rates, let the debt system take a tumble (and take its medicine), and squelch the effects of inflation by suppressing consumer demand.

Either choice could cause an economic crisis. The Fed decided not to choose. Instead, they raised rates but not enough to reverse stagflation effects. They took the middle road and refused to allow the economy to take its medicine.

This means we are still stuck with the massive price increases we incurred during the Biden Administration. CPI has stopped its dramatic climb, but most of our necessities remain overpriced compared to five years ago.