All paper money systems of the past have failed. They either sank into chaos or society reverted to commodity money before this could happen. Based on the latest insights, Detlev Schlichter convincingly demonstrates in "The End of Illusion" why paper money systems are inherently unstable and why they inevitably lead to societal collapse. Schlichter's highly controversial theses clash with the current opinion that elastic state currencies are superior to rigid commodity money (such as the gold standard) and that an expanding money supply is unproblematic, even beneficial, as long as inflation remains low. Schlichter disputes this and points out that the current crisis is the inevitable consequence of the constant increase in fiat money.