Every program experiences and will continue to experience a form of inflation, unless William Volker or Alan Greenspan is appointed VP of Marketing.

There are simply too many points chasing a relatively fixed pool of redemption options.

See:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9157

There's no program to seek refuge in. Nowhere to run. That doesn't mean programs aren't worthwhile -- just that you need to burn as you earn, because your points will never be worth as much in the future as they're worth today.