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Let’s see

Zimbabwean one hundred trillion dollar note

Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic

The WORST Inflation in History | Tales From the Bottle

Any more examples?

I think I lost all my braincells

Commanding an economy to Go never fails, just ask the Soviet Union

Imagine there's a new issue of a famous comic book being printed (the series doesn't matter; take your pick). But the caveat is that there's only going to be ONE copy printed. Only one in existence. That single issue could potentially be worth millions, because it's so desirable for comic book nerds and they all want to get their hands on it. Only the wealthiest of collectors will be able to throw enough money at it to win an auction, which raises its value significantly.

Now imagine the publisher decides to make 100 copies instead. The value of that issue is now much cheaper; maybe worth several thousand dollars per comic, because there are a handful of them floating around now. Still, only wealthy collectors will be able to afford bidding on a copy, but at least the top 100 bids will win a copy. Raising the value, but not as much as if they are all bidding on a single product.

Now imagine 100,000 copies are made. Now it's mostly a standard printing, and it's only worth the cover price for a comic nowadays (what, like $3.99 or so?)

The more copies that are out there, the easier it is to find and acquire, and thus the cheaper its value is. Same goes for money; the more printed bills that are out there, the less value each bill has, and you'll need more of them to afford basic products. Which is why inflation is a thing, because we're constantly printing more money each year.

In reference to my point about comic book values, there are only about 100 copies left in existence of the first Superman comic (Action Comic #1). A single copy sold last year for $6 million, and its condition was only rated 8.5/10, which means it's a little rough around the edges from wear and tear. Not even a pristine comic book, and it still cost millions to buy!

That same issue sold for 10 cents when it was first made in 1938, but the fact that comics were made to be read and then discarded back then means most people never held on to their comic books and their numbers have dwindled over the years. Now Superman is a huge deal - one of the best-selling comics of all time - and his first appearance in a comic book is so rare, people will spend millions just to have an original copy.

are we still in the "the state should just go further into debt to pay for infrastructure" or already in the "fuck, that was a big mistake, what do we do with all that debt now?" stage? i can't tell anymore.