Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham warned on Thursday that Americans need an 11% increase in net worth just to maintain purchasing power following the dollar’s significant decline since President Donald Trump‘s inauguration.
Dollar Index Shows Sharp Decline From Inauguration
The U.S. Dollar Index has fallen from 109.29 on Trump’s January 20 inauguration to 98.07 as of Thursday—a 10.26% decrease.
Graham wrote on X: “Unless your dollar-denominated net worth has increased by at least 11% this year, you’ve become poorer. The dollar has decreased about 10% in value since Trump took office.”
Dollar-focused ETFs reflect this decline. Invesco DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund (NYSE:UUP) dropped 6.61% from $29.34 to $27.40, while WisdomTree Bloomberg U.S. Dollar Bullish Fund (NYSE:USDU) fell 4.86% from $27.57 to $26.23 since the inauguration.