To wind up with true hyperinflation, some very bad things have to happen. The government has to completely lose control and the populace has to completely lose faith in the system - or both at the same time. Will the U.S. go down that path? Let's review the situation.

Hyperinflation is not an unusual phenomenon. 33 countries have experienced hyperinflation over the last 100 years of which no less than 22 have experienced it in the past 25 years and 4 in the past 10 years. The United States is one of the few countries to have experienced two currency collapses during its history (1812-1814 and 1861-1865). Could it happen again?

There is a difference between inflation and hyperinflation and there is no gradual path from one to the other. To wind up with true hyperinflation, some very bad things have to happen. The government has to completely lose control the populace has to completely lose faith in the system or both at the same time. Are we there yet? Let's take a look.

What I outline below is not a forecast but a potential scenario which I sincerely hope won’t come to pass but the risk of going down the road to political and financial system collapse, social unrest and even civil war, and eventual hyperinflation, is certainly there.

The measure of money in the system, known as M2, is skyrocketing with the Biden administration adding another $1.9 trillion into the economy. Should we worry about a hyperinflationary surge like we saw in the late 70s or, are the deflationary pressures on the economy still present?

There are two specific reasons why runaway inflation did not happen a decade ago, and why it won’t likely happen now, either:

The root cause of hyperinflation is a large Government deficit which is financed by money creation rather than other options like increased borrowing or higher rates of taxation. The following infographic looks at 5 occasions when currencies crashed in a big way.

Hyper-inflation will spread from country to country just as the coronavirus has starting most likely in the U.S. and within the EU quickly be followed by Japan and most other developing countries. Got gold?

Without pricing power or a large fiscal deficit and large foreign currency demands, it simply isn’t credible to claim that hyperinflation in the U.S. or the U.K. is in the offing now or anytime in the immediate future.

It now looks that inflationary pressures are starting in earnest...In the last two years, inflation has gone from 0% to 2.5% which is a 5-year high...and could easily reach 10% in the next couple of years and ultimately a lot higher as inflation turns into hyperinflation. That will have an explosive effect on metal prices.