John James,
I agree that forcing someone to do something, as is the case with legal tender laws, is argumentatively unjustifiable. I don’t see how it follows from this that inflation is theft if the currency is the only one legally sanctioned for exchange. Hoppe is very clear in stating that no one has a right to the value of his goods as value is placed on goods by individuals and their subjective valuations of these goods; ultimately, claiming a right to the value of something is tantamount to claiming a right to the minds of others. If that’s true, then inflation can’t be theft as the value of a currency is only lowered as a result of market transactions and theft is defined as the aggressive seizure of another’s property.
I’m very interested in seeing the article to which Conza has alluded regarding this -I wonder how Hoppe accounts for this- but could you elaborate on how it is theft?