This is a long-winded way of saying that inflation is the silent killer because it eats into pensioners’ principal, even while they are deluded by high nominal interest rates into thinking they are getting an adequate return. Indeed, with 10 per cent return and 10 per cent inflation, the deposit is not giving you any real return net of inflation, which is why you can buy only 2,000 dosas after a year of saving, the same as you could buy immediately today. In contrast, when inflation is 5.5 per cent but the interest rate you are getting is 8 per cent, you are earning a real rate of 2.5 per
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