The loss of value has been exacerbated by the central bank's policy of easy money (low interest) to insure global finance liquidity and stave off recession. After a brief hiatus, the Fed is continuing that policy. It reduced its prime rate by a quarter percent this week. Emergency measures during the Great Recession have become the “new normal.” This new normal has been going on for over a decade now. Without proper fiscal policies, loose monetary policy engenders housing bubbles, speculation, and inflated stock values due to financial engineering by CEOs and their Wall Street accomplices. As one commentator has pointed out, lax monetary policy has become the handmaiden of the "speculation economy", or the triumph of financialization over producing goods.
Meanwhile (thank you, Steven Colbert), the national debt has surpassed a staggering $21 trillion, growing by $1 trillion in the past six months. Trumpilini's corporate tax cut was supposed to generate more jobs by repatriating dollars stashed offshore in tax havens. NOT. Corporations brought back only $664.9 billion of the $4 trillion (16.6%) the regime said was out there, and a lot of that went into stock buy backs and other forms of financial engineering. Compare this display of patriotism to the $29 trillion in commitments received from the Federal reserve to bail out perp banks from the Great Recession. So, just put on your MAGA hat and smile!