What Is Inflation?
LETTERS
BACK TO BASICS TO THE EDITOR
What Is Inflation?
Ceyda Oner
I
T may be one of the most familiar words in economics. Inflation has plunged countries into long periods of instability. Central bankers often aspire to be known as “inflation hawks.” Politicians have won elections with promises to combat inflation, only to lose power after failing to do so. Inflation was even declared Public enemy No. 1 in the United States—by President Gerald Ford in 1974. What, then, is inflation, and why is it so important? Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. Inflation is typically a broad measure, such as the overall increase in prices or the increase in the cost of living in a country. But it can also be more narrowly calculated—for certain goods, such as food, or for services, such as a haircut, for example. Whatever the context, inflation represents how much more expensive the relevant set of goods and/or services has become over a certain period, most commonly a year.
consumers—requires an index with broader coverage, such as the gross domestic product (GDP) deflator. The CPI basket is mostly kept constant over time for consistency, but is tweaked occasionally to reflect changing consumption patterns—for example, to include new hi-tech goods and to replace items no longer widely purchased. Because it shows how, on average, prices change over time for everything produced in an economy, the contents of the GDP deflator vary each year and are more current than the mostly fixed CPI basket. On the other hand, the deflator includes non-consumer items (such as military spending) and is therefore not a good measure of the cost of living.
Measuring inflation Consumers’ cost of living depends on the prices of many goods and services and the share of each in the household budget. To measure the average consumer’s cost of living, government agencies conduct household surveys to identify a basket of commonly purchased items and
BACK TO BASICS TO THE EDITOR
What Is Inflation?
Ceyda Oner
I
T may be one of the most familiar words in economics. Inflation has plunged countries into long periods of instability. Central bankers often aspire to be known as “inflation hawks.” Politicians have won elections with promises to combat inflation, only to lose power after failing to do so. Inflation was even declared Public enemy No. 1 in the United States—by President Gerald Ford in 1974. What, then, is inflation, and why is it so important? Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. Inflation is typically a broad measure, such as the overall increase in prices or the increase in the cost of living in a country. But it can also be more narrowly calculated—for certain goods, such as food, or for services, such as a haircut, for example. Whatever the context, inflation represents how much more expensive the relevant set of goods and/or services has become over a certain period, most commonly a year.
consumers—requires an index with broader coverage, such as the gross domestic product (GDP) deflator. The CPI basket is mostly kept constant over time for consistency, but is tweaked occasionally to reflect changing consumption patterns—for example, to include new hi-tech goods and to replace items no longer widely purchased. Because it shows how, on average, prices change over time for everything produced in an economy, the contents of the GDP deflator vary each year and are more current than the mostly fixed CPI basket. On the other hand, the deflator includes non-consumer items (such as military spending) and is therefore not a good measure of the cost of living.
Measuring inflation Consumers’ cost of living depends on the prices of many goods and services and the share of each in the household budget. To measure the average consumer’s cost of living, government agencies conduct household surveys to identify a basket of commonly purchased items and