There are various economic costs associated with inflation – uncertainty, decline in investment, redistribution from savers to borrowers – but although there are costs with inflation, is zero inflation actually desirable? Governments usually set an inflation target of around 2%. (UK CPI target is 2% +/-1) There are reasons for targetting inflation of 2% – …
Readers Question: Discuss whether a widespread shortage of labour might be a major cause of inflation. Often a shortage of labour causes inflationary pressure. If firms are struggling to employ sufficient labour, workers are in a position to demand higher wages. This can easily lead to wage inflation which causes inflation. Micro-theory of labour shortages …
Summary – If a country has a higher inflation rate than its competitors, then its good will be increasing in price at a faster rate and therefore, they will become relatively less competitive. It will experience less demand for its exports and therefore less demand for its currency. This will tend to cause a depreciation …
Deflation means a fall in prices (a negative inflation rate). Though policymakers should generally be concerned if there is an inflation rate less than the target of 2%. For example, in the Eurozone Jan 2015, the headline inflation rate is -0.2%. Even if we strip away volatile prices like oil, core inflation is 0.8%. …
Readers Question: If the government has a national debt, why doesn’t it just print more money and pay it off? The problem is that printing money would cause inflation and effectively reduce the value of money. If you print more money the number of goods and services will stay the same, you just have more …
UK inflation since 1989. Definition – Inflation – Inflation is a sustained rise in the cost of living and average price level. Causes Inflation – Inflation is caused by excess demand in the economy, a rise in costs of production, rapid growth in the money supply. Costs of Inflation – Inflation causes …
Firms generally prefer inflation to be low and stable. If inflation rises above 3 or 4%, firms may see a rise in costs and uncertainty. Inflation can also cause firms problems of rising costs, falling profitability, and a decline in international competitiveness. However, inflation is not necessarily damaging for a firm – especially, if they …
Readers Question: When does velocity of money pick up and why will it? Clearly, the reason US inflation worriers have been wrong so far (NB). Is it confidence or policy? The velocity of circulation / velocity of money refers to how frequently the money stock in an economy is used in a given period. In …