Inflation and money — Bitcoin courses on why money breaks
Inflation is not a fact of life. It is a policy choice. Learn the mechanics, the history, and why every previous form of money has eventually failed.
What is inflation & money?
Inflation is the loss of purchasing power over time. A pound that buys a coffee today buys half a coffee a decade from now. The official narrative is that this is a feature of healthy economies — a target rate of 2% annually, gentle and helpful. The actual story is messier and more interesting.
A course on inflation and money should answer three questions. What is money, actually? Why does its value change? And what does Bitcoin do differently? You can't answer the third without the first two, which is why the course starts with the history of money — shells, cattle, gold, paper, fiat — and what kept failing each time.
The inflation specifically is the consequence of one design choice: that the supply of money is decided by an institution rather than by maths. Whether that institution is a king debasing coins or a central bank running quantitative easing, the mechanism is the same. More money chasing the same goods means each unit of money is worth less. Bitcoin's 21-million cap removes that lever entirely.
What you'll learn
- 1Explain what makes some forms of money better than others
- 2Tell the 10,000-year story of money in five minutes — at a dinner party
- 3Read inflation statistics critically and know which numbers to trust
- 4Recognise the Cantillon effect when you see it in economic news
- 5Calculate exactly how much purchasing power your savings lose each year
- 6Make a confident case for why Bitcoin's supply cap matters
- 7Build a saving plan that works in a high-inflation environment
Why it matters
Most people accept inflation as a force of nature, like weather. It isn't. Every dollar of purchasing power lost was a deliberate consequence of monetary policy. Until you understand that, you can't make rational decisions about saving, investing, or planning for your kids' futures. The goal of this course is not to make you angry about inflation — it's to make you informed about it.
For families specifically, inflation is the silent tax on patience. The cultural advice we've been given for two generations — "save your money, work hard, the economy rewards prudence" — was built for an era when money kept its value. In an era when money is engineered to lose value, the advice has to change. Understanding inflation is the prerequisite for understanding why your kids may need to think about saving differently than you did.
Sample insight from our courses
“Bitcoin is the first money in human history with a fixed supply that cannot be changed by anyone, ever.”Take the full inflation & money course →
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How we teach inflation & money
We start with stories. The Roman silver coin debasement. The German hyperinflation. The Argentine peso. The Venezuelan bolivar. Real examples make the abstract concrete and make it clear that inflation isn't just a feature of "developing economies".
On the mechanics, we use diagrams to show how new money enters the economy, who gets it first, and why that matters. The Cantillon effect — that those closest to money creation benefit at the expense of those furthest from it — is much easier to see when drawn than described.
We don't pretend Bitcoin is the answer to every monetary problem. The course is even-handed about Bitcoin's trade-offs (volatility, custody complexity) while making clear what it does that fiat money can't (fixed supply, neutral verification).
For kids, we have a Why Prices Keep Going Up course that uses Mars bars and pocket money to teach the same ideas. A 9-year-old who understands that "if everyone gets twice as much pocket money, the price of sweets goes up" already understands inflation better than most adults.
Who this is for
Concerned saver
You feel like your money is going further every year — except it actually isn't. Learn why.
Parent thinking long-term
You want your kids to inherit something that holds value. Start with what "value" means.
Macro-curious
You read economics news and want a coherent framework for what's happening with money. This is it.
Frequently asked
Isn't a small amount of inflation healthy?
Mainstream economic thinking says yes. The course presents that view fairly and also presents the counter-arguments — including from economists who don't share the assumption. By the end you'll have a framework, not a slogan.
How does Bitcoin protect against inflation?
Bitcoin's supply is fixed at 21 million coins, and the issuance schedule (halving every four years) is in the protocol. No central authority can issue more. That doesn't mean Bitcoin's price won't fluctuate — it does — but the supply side is provably uninflatable.
Will my kids care about this?
They will when they get their first salary and notice it doesn't go as far as their parents' did at the same age. We teach the framing now so the dots connect later.
Is the kids version of this course actually about inflation?
Yes, just at age-appropriate level. We use Mars bars and pocket money instead of CPI baskets. The mechanics are identical.
Doesn't Bitcoin's volatility cancel out its inflation protection?
Short-term, yes. Long-term (10+ years), no — Bitcoin has outperformed every major inflation hedge over its history. The course covers the difference between volatility (price moving day to day) and dilution (currency being inflated forever) and why they're not comparable.
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