Hacker News Reader

> happy with their interest returns being so high.

The "returns" were rarely above the inflation rate, plus you got to pay income tax on those illusory "returns".

Savvier people would shift their money into assets that kept or increased their value independent of inflation, such as equities and real estate.

View on HN

I question the equities and real estate being independent from inflation bit: if interest rates are at 20%, imagine the interest cost of a mortgage! Prices have to come down to compensate.

Equities return, on average, 7% in real terms. Meaning they are good investments in inflationary times.

Another way to look at it is inflation means the dollar is worth less, not other things that are not pegged to the dollar.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com