We've enjoyed years of "recovery" since the Great Financial Crisis by literally papering over our problems with newly-printed money, instead of addressing their root causes.

But we've now arrived at the awkward part of the story; when all of our prior mistakes finally catch up with us, and the plot heads in a much darker direction.

Despite more than a decade of an "all-hands-on-deck" propping up of the financial markets, all the central bankers have to show for it is the widest wealth gap in history coupled with stagnant wages.

That, and a skyrocketing cost of living.

B.S. From The BLS

Depending on which OECD country you live in, you can take your 'official' inflation measure and multiply it by either a 2x or a 3x to get the true rate.

For example, in the US we've been told that inflation is running at just under 2% for years. In reality, it's been trucking along at closer to 4% to 6% (for rural and urban dwellers, respectively).