Printing Press Preference

The deception, with tact
Just what are you trying to say?
--The Fixx

Chris Rossini explains why politicians prefer the monetary printing press for extracting wealth from the populace. It is confiscation by stealth.

Direct taxation, on the other hand, is overt confiscation. People can readily see how much of their wealth is being taken. There is a limit to direct taxation beyond which politicians are reluctant to venture because the people will push back.

Wealth confiscation via inflation is much more difficult for people to discern in the near term. They cannot easily recognize how much of their wealth is being taken when the government prints dollars and spends them while they still have value. Only later do people figure out that the purchasing power of the dollars in their pockets has been eroded.

Inflation is the invisible tax. Using the monetary printing press to confiscate wealth could very well constitute the ultimate in political expedience