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I've noticed that prior to that, the dollar was very stable.

Actually, the dollar was much less stable under the gold standard. Those wild swings prior to 1971 ruined a lot of businesses, individuals and families.

More proof we need the gold standard. Deflation is good for us, right?

Good point. However, the chart is slightly deceptive. While there were certainly more wild swings, there were periods of deflation and inflation. These would average out to a very flat line of total inflation from 1850-1970, meaning the dollar was worth relatively the same at the end as it was in the beginning. The relatively flat line over 120 years, though, was little comfort to people who lost everything because of those wild swings in between. An old man I knew, who hit his twenties during the great Depression said, "Hoover said he'd make the dollar as big as a wagon wheel. H*ll, he made it as big as a ferris wheel!"

Since the US went off the gold standard, every year, we've had inflation, and no corresponding periods of deflation, so the dollar has, although in a much more stable way, lost value every single year. This brings up two points.

First, the constant inflation plays directly into the hands of the liberal left, as it creates a built in tax increase every year because of bracket creep.

Second, a larger question is, is the current rate of inflation every year, with never a correcting deflationary cycle a natural trend, or is it the result of monetary market manipulation. There are two schools of thought. One is that the economy is like a ship, and without a monetary policy, the economy is like a ship with no one at the wheel, subject to crashing on rocks, capsizing, etc. The second theory is that economies are natural forces, and you can hold them back for a while, but eventually, the reality of the amount of goods available with respect to the number of dollars chasing them will come back to reality, and that the longer you hold back the natural forces, the more violent the correction will be.

As I stated in the post you replied to, I am no economist, and have no idea how this will play out. Your chart is good information, though, and brings to light something I hadn't considered. Thanks for posting it.

Exactly so and that chart is a winner. :-)