Imagine walking into a storeroom or warehouse and finding the shelves stacked high with cash — $10,000 on one shelf, $2,000 on another. Over there is a storage bin filled with $20 bills. Everything is neatly labelled and catalogued like a bank vault in a movie, except everything is on display.
Now imagine the value of the cash diminishes rapidly, but not in the usual slow way that cash loses relative value over time. Instead, it loses value in the same manner that new cars lose value as soon as you drive them off the lot. Once the cash is on the shelf, it is as good as gone and can’t be used to buy anything.