Letters to the Editor
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Real interest rates
Returning to the point that inflation destroys the poor and middle class--first of all, as said before, inflation is good for those in debt. That encompasses the poor and middle class in the US for sure (although less so for the poor).
Anyone who saves in a concerted way using financial assets that pay interest (i.e. not gold), is usually able to make money in real terms. Interest rates are generally assumed to consist of two parts--the part compensating you for inflation and some real return. The real return isn't always positive (which makes debt cheaper and stimulates the economy) so you won't always keep up with inflation, but that, in turn encourages people to borrow and spend which should theoretically stimulate the economy. In a situation where inflation doesn't exist or there is deflation you always have a tight monetary policy because it is difficult to have negative interest rates on a large scale. So mild, predictable inflation greases the skids of an economy, generally speaking.
Yeah, the Fed has presided over booms and busts (including the Great Depression), but there were certainly numerous (and severe) panics before the Fed came into being.