Effects of Inflation Essay -- Economy Economics Money Essays

Effects of Inflation Inflation is the most commonly used economic term in the popular media. A Nexis search in 1996 found 872,000 news stories over the past twenty years that used the word splashiness. Unemployment ran a distant second. Public concern more or less pomposity generally heats up in step with pompousness itself. Though economists do not always agreeabout when inflation starts to interfere with merchandise signals, the universe tends to express serious alarm once the inflation rate rises above 5 or 6 percent. Public opinion polls lay down minimal concern about rising prices during the early 1960s, as inflation was low. Concern rose with inflation in the late 1960s and early 1970s. When inflation twice surged to double-digit levels in the mid and late 1970s, Americans named it public enemy number one. Since the late 1980s, public anxiety has abated along with inflation itself. Yet even when inflation is low, Americans tend to perceive a morality tale in it s effects. A recent survey by Yale economist Robert Shiller found that many Americans view differences in prices over time as a reflection of fundamental changes in the values of our society, rather than of purely economic forces. Economists think of inflation more patently as a sustained rise in the general level of prices. Their concerns focus on questions such as whether inflation distorts economic decisions. Very spunky inflation adversely impacts economic performance, as evidence from cross-country studies shows. Likewise, moderate levels of inflation can distort investment and consumption decisions. Recent U.S. experience with low, inactive levels of inflation, in the range of 2 to 3 percent, has spurred policy makers to consider the possibility of achieving zero percent inflation. Reducing inflation however has costs in anomic output and unemployment during the adjustment. Thus, an important question is wheth... ... would not allow massive inflation. Americans feeling of pride in national institutions depends in part on low inflation or sound money as a signal of healthy fiscal and monetary institutions. Finally, inflation can discourage deliverance and encourage consumption. It thusly is perceived as an attack on certain moral virtues -- a strong work ethic, deferred gratification -- that support a healthy economy. John Maynard Keynes make his famous attack on the Victorian virtue of saving -- always jam tomorrow and never jam today -- for economic reasons. Consumption in a depression or a recession could strengthen the economy, in his view. But British society took Keyness mockery as an assault on the perfume of Victorian morality. Many Americans likewise feel that inflation assaults the legacy here of the Protestant work ethic that places a moral premium on saving over consumption. Fighting inflation thus is seen by many as a moral as much as an economic duty. Americans want their public officials to fight inflation to increase long-term output and employment but perhaps also to strengthen societys moral foundation.