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> The root of inflation is the printing of money

This is mostly true most of the time, but this is not the only story. There is also a supply side to the equation: if supply can expand it can suck up a lot of money that is being printed without causing inflation.

I highly recommend Lyn Alden's overviews and analysis. Here is her recent one on inflation (a subsection that points to broad money vs inflation -- the trend you indicate as well as some exceptions). https://www.lynalden.com/inflation/#supply

Another one she wrote a couple of years ago on the global reserve currency situation is IMO relevant as well. https://www.lynalden.com/fraying-petrodollar-system/



This is definitely a huge factor, especially when understanding short term inflationary trends, or inflation in a particular good or service.

But very long term and holistic, systemic inflation, that 2-3% annual target, has very little to do with supply and is almost exclusively printing money. It's a slow drip, a covert tax on savers and gift to debtors, that the government can feed off indefinitely so long as they never get too overleveraged and forced to print money too fast to cover their obligations, shattering the trust that supports the system.


Did you mean demand instead of supply? The supply of money is growing. So you mean the Demand needs to expand to consume it?




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