Inflation
Definition of Inflation:
Inflation refers to a continuous rise in general price level of goods and services in the economy.
The reduction in the purchasing power of a currency. Inflation has historically occurred when a country prints too much of its currency in shorter period of time. Central banks attempt to control inflation by raising interest rates when necessary, which decreases the amount of money in circulation.
In simple words it refers to a continuous rise in general price level of goods and services
Effects of Inflation
The effect of inflation on savers and investors is that they lose purchasing power. Whether you've hold your money or kept your money in the safe at home, the value of money decreases with the passage of time.
The most immediate effects of inflation are the decreased purchasing power of the dollar and its depreciation. So
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W. H. Phillips’s study of wage inflation and unemployment in the United Kingdom from 1861 to 1957 is a milestone in the development of macroeconomics.
Philips Curve is a tool to explain the trade-off between these two objectives i.e.
a) Inflation
b) Unemployment
Philips Curve describes the relationship between inflation and unemployment in an economy.
Phillips conjectured that the lower the unemployment rate, the tighter the labor market and, therefore, the faster firms must raise wages to attract scarce labor. At higher rates of unemployment, the pressure abated. Phillips’s “curve” represented the average relationship between unemployment and wage behavior over the business cycle. It showed the rate of wage inflation that would result if a particular level of unemployment persisted for some time.
The Short Run Philips Curve:
Assuming that the economy has just been in recession, the unemployment level will be fairly high. This will mean that there is a labour
Inflation occurs when consumers are spending like crazy, and “the central banks flood the system with too much money,” (DPE, 37). They do so through
First, I will discuss the time period between 1973-1974. Because the unemployment and inflation rates are higher than normal, we can assume that the aggregate-demand curve is downward-sloping. When the aggregate-demand curve is downward-sloping, we know that the economy’s demand has slowed down. When the economy’s demand has slowed down, businesses have to choice but to raise prices and lay off workers in order to preserve profits. When employers throughout the country respond to their decrease in demand the same way, unemployment increases.
"Macroeconomics/Employment and Unemployment." Macroeconomics/Employment and Unemployment - Wikibooks, Open Books for an Open World. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 July 2017.
The adaptive expectations theory assumes people form their expectations on future inflation on the basis of previous and present inflation rates and only gradually change their expectations as experience unfolds. In this theory, there is a short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment which does not exist in the long-run. Any attempt to reduce the unemployment rate blow the natural rate sets in motion forces which destabilize the Phillips Curve and shift it rightward.
Yes, it will increase inflation but create more job opportunities and unemployment will decrease if government intervention occurs. Yes in the long run this might be bad but people care about tomorrow more than they care about 3 or 4 years from now or even more. As Lord Keynes once said “in the long run we are all dead”.
In chapter nine ‘Why is there an employment/inflation trade-off?’ the authors critique the natural rate theory. They agree with the fact that wage setting is influenced by expectations of inflation but disagree that inflationary expectation affects ‘wage and price setting one for one’
This article by Andrew McCathie posted in EarthTimes and titled “European inflation climbs unemployment at 12-year high was posted on Friday July 30 2010. The article reports that food and energy costs have played a critical role in driving up inflation in the 16-member eurozone. The rates of unemployment remained stagnant to its highest level during this time.
Unemployment is a macroeconomic factor that is pertinent to an extensive economy at a regional level. Therefore it affects a large population rather than a few select individuals. Unemployment does not only have social costs, but economic costs too. The ILO, International Labour organization, defines unemployment as, ''People of working age, who are without work, but available for work and actively seeking employment.'' Therefore implying that it is a state of an individual looking for a job but not having one. Unemployment is one of the key indicators in determining the economic stability of a country; hence governments, businesses and consumers closely monitor it. There are numerous aspects that might lead to unemployment such as labour market conflicts and recessions in the economy. There are two main types of unemployment, which can be focused on, seasonal and cyclical unemployment. Seasonal unemployment occurs when a person is unemployed or their profession is not in demand during a particular season. On the contrary, cyclical unemployment occurs when there is less demand for goods and services in the market so consequently supply needs to be decreased.
The debate of the relationship between inflation and unemployment is mainly based on the famous “Phillips Curve”. This curve was first discovered by a New Zealand born economist called Allan William Phillips. In 1958, A. W. Phillips published an article “The relationship between unemployment and the rate of change of money wages in the United Kingdom, 1861-1957”, in which he showed a negative correlation between inflation and unemployment (Phillips 1958). As shown in figure 1, when unemployment rate is low, the inflation rate tends to be high, and when unemployment is high, the inflation rate tends to be low, even to be negative.
Mouhammed, A. H. (2011). Important theories of unemployment and public policies. Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 12(5), 100-110.
Inflation; ‘a situation in which prices rise in order to keep up with increased production costs… result[ing] [in] the purchasing power of money fall[ing]’ (Collin:101) is quickly becoming a problem for the government of the United Kingdom in these post-recession years. The economic recovery, essential to the wellbeing of the British economy, may be in jeopardy as inflation continues to rise, reducing the purchasing power of the public. This, in turn, reduces demand for goods and services, and could potentially plummet the UK back into recession. This essay discusses the causes of inflation, policy options available to the UK government and the Bank of England (the central bank of the UK responsible for monetary policy), and the effects they may potentially have on the UK recovery.
Inflation is the rate at which the purchasing power of currency is falling, consequently, the general level of prices for goods and services is rising. Central banks endeavor to point of confinement inflation, and maintain a strategic distance from collapse i.e. deflation, with a specific end goal to keep the economy running smoothly.
The increase in prices is known as inflation. This macroeconomic objective aims at keeping prices as low as possible. Economists normally would like to understand the changes of what is happening in the purchasing power of consumers. The price stability can be measured by looking into the (CPI) which is the index of the prices of representative basket of consumer goods and services. According to StatsSA, (2016) the inflation rate averaged 9.27 percent from 1968 to 2016. Consequently, the report states that the consumer prices index in South Africa increased by 6 percent year-on-year in July of 2016.The economists however, argue that the inflation figure obtained was one of the lowest ever experienced by south Africa due to the fact the cost of electricity and fuel remained constant. This shows that South Africa at the moment is currently doing well; however only because inflation is very dynamic and changes so it can not be guaranteed that it will remain the same
Inflation is one of the most important economic issues in the world. It can be defined as the price of goods and services rising over monthly or yearly. Inflation leads to a decline in the value of money, it means that we cannot buy something at a price that same as before. This situation will increase our cost of living.
Daly, Mary, Bart Hobijn, and Rob Valletta. 2011. “The Recent Evolution of the Natural Rate of Unemployment.”