#40 Inflation, Architecture, and the Death of Beautiful Buildings - a Yoeman Podcast Guest Episode

Written By Melissa Griffin

A hundred years ago, people in small towns were building things that still stop us in our tracks. Two-story brick shops on the corner of Main and Commerce. Sturdy. Modest. Enduring. And beautiful.

So the question is: what changed?

I joined Geoff Graham on his Yeoman podcast, alongside Jaime Izurieta and Saifedean Ammous (author of The Bitcoin Standard), to try and unpack that question.

We talk about why the small towns of the early 1900s could build beautiful things without credentialed architects, starchitects, or REIT funding... and why today, with all our global supply chains and five-star consultants, we mostly build disposable boxes.

Turns out, there’s a connection between money, time preference, and architecture. And when the money got funny, everything else started to crack too – our neighborhoods, our supply chains, even our standards for beauty.

It’s a wide-ranging conversation that touches on architecture, monetary policy, code creep, and how the over-financialization of everything is eroding our ability to build for the long haul.

Take a listen if you’ve ever wondered why your grandparents' post office looks better than your city’s new civic center.

Melissa Griffin
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