What a Year of Minimum Wage Buys in Gold, Then and Now

In this appearance on the Flyover Conservatives Show, Dr. Kirk Elliott looks at how wages have fared against inflation since 1971, when President Nixon closed the gold window. He walks through a comparison showing that a full year of minimum-wage earnings bought about 81.5 ounces of gold in 1971 and roughly 4.4 ounces at the time of this recording, and explains that cash set aside in 1971 has lost about 87% of its purchasing power, a loss he describes as a hidden tax driven by growth in the money supply. He explains why he sees protecting purchasing power as the first goal of a long-term plan, with growth secondary, and why he believes physical gold and silver have done more than keep pace with inflation over that span. He also describes his approach of using the gold-to-silver ratio to decide when to rotate between the two metals with the aim of growing total ounces over time, frames physical metals as assets investors may want to consider, and invites viewers to schedule a consultation with the KEPM team.