This may not come as a surprise: You are burning through cash today more quickly than ever before.

The American Institute for Economic Research released their Cost-of-Living Guide yesterday, which monitors the purchasing power of the dollar over time.

The report isn’t available online, but its authors say that the purchasing power of the dollar has decreased by more than 95% since 1913. History buffs will recall that’s the same year that Congress created the Federal Reserve System and left the gold standard in the dust. Tracking the Consumer Price Index since 1800, the Institute argues that the U.S. government has been “ineffective” when it comes to preserving the value of the dollar over time.

Although the Consumer Price Index is an admittedly imperfect way to measure changes in the cost of living, it’s still one of the best tools we have for measuring how the prices of cars, bread or health care stack up in relation to our earnings.

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