The first generation of Americans to watch their savings erased by inflation wore the uniform of the Continental Army. Washington’s soldiers were paid in paper Continentals printed by the wagonload, and by 1780 the currency had collapsed so thoroughly that “not worth a Continental” entered the national lexicon. The Founders never forgot the lesson, which is why debates over hard money recur throughout their letters and state papers.

Two hundred forty-six years later, conservative politics is wrestling with a generation making the same discovery. When a college student told a Turning Point USA spokesman that a basic burrito shouldn’t cost $20, prominent voices in the movement responded with lectures about eating ramen and finding roommates. That reaction missed the mark.