Akademik

inflation

The creation of money by monetary authorities. In more popular usage, the creation of money that visibly raises goods prices and lowers the purchasing power of money. It may be creeping, trotting, or galloping, depending on the rate of money creation by the authorities. It may take the form of "simple inflation," in which case the proceeds of the new money issues accrue to the government for deficit spending; or it may appear as "credit expansion," in which case the authorities channel the newly created money into the loan market. Both forms are inflation in the broader sense. The CENTER ONLINE Futures Glossary

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The rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising. Bloomberg Financial Dictionary

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An economic term describing conditions in which overall prices for goods and services are rising. Chicago Mercantile Exchange Glossary

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The general increase in prices over time. It has the effect of reducing the buying power of money. The most common measure of inflation is the retail prices index ( RPI). Financial Services Glossary

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inflation in‧fla‧tion [ɪnˈfleɪʆn] noun [uncountable] ECONOMICS

a continuing increase in the prices of goods and services, or the rate at which prices increase:

• A slowing economy would help contain inflation (= control it ) .

• Gold does well only during periods of high inflation.

• Portugal had annual average inflation of 11.4% last year.

• Theinflation rate rose to 4.5% last month.

• Adjusted for inflation (= after taking inflation into account ) real growth is estimated to be 1.8%.

ˈasset inˌflation ECONOMICS

when the price of land, shares etc rises more quickly than the rate of economic growth:

• The Bank of Japan started worrying that asset inflation could affect consumer price inflation.

conˌsumer ˈprice inˌflation ECONOMICS

the increase in prices paid by people buying goods and services:

• Consumer price inflation, excluding energy and food, fell to 2.6% in the 12 months to June.

ˈcore inˌflation ECONOMICS

inflation calculated without taking into account prices that change a lot such as those for food:

• Core inflation, which does not include volatile fuel or food prices, has stopped falling, despite a sharp fall in headline inflation.

ˈcost inˌflation also ˌcost-ˈpush inˌflation ECONOMICS

when prices of goods and services increase because of the increased cost of wages, raw material S (= materials used to produce goods ) etc:

• Usually cost-push inflation is strongest when the economy has been expanding for a long time.

ˌcreeping inˈflation ECONOMICS

when inflation is rising slowly, but beginning to increase more quickly than people realize:

• Data on May retail sales show new signs of life in the economy and creeping inflation.

deˈmand inˌflation also ˌdemand-ˈpull inˌflation ECONOMICS

when an economy is growing, and prices rise because the amount of goods and services being produced does not keep up with the amount of money available to buy them or the demand for them:

• Delivery times lengthen when demand exceeds supply, and often reflect the development of demand-pull inflation.

ˌdouble-ˈdigit inˌflation ECONOMICS

when prices rise at between 10 and 99 per cent per year:

• The US experienced double-digit inflation in 1974, 1979 and 1980.

ˌgalloping inˈflation also ˌrunaway inˈflation ECONOMICS

very high inflation that is out of control; = HYPERINFLATION:

• the galloping inflation of the late 1980s

• a plan to rid Brazil of its runaway inflation, which exceeded 4,800% in the preceding 12 months

ˈheadline inˌflation ECONOMICS

inflation calculated including prices that change a lot such as those for food and fuel and, in Britain, mortgages (= the money that people repay on loans to buy houses ) :

• a headline inflation rate of 5.5%

ˈhyperinˌflation also hyper-inflation ECONOMICS

a rapid rise in prices that seriously damages a country's economy; = GALLOPING INFLATION:

• The aim of the strict budget was to prevent hyperinflation.

ˌstructural inˈflation ECONOMICS

inflation that is part of a particular economic system, so that a complete change in economic policy would be needed to get rid of it.

ˌunderlying inˈflation ECONOMICS

the general rise or fall in prices, not including prices that are untypical:

• Underlying inflation, excluding food and energy costs, edged up to 0.6% from 0.5%.

ˈwage inˌflation ECONOMICS

increase in people's pay:

• There has been a modest decline in average hourly earnings of workers, suggesting there is little reason to fear wage inflation.

ˌwage-ˈpush inˌflation ECONOMICS

a situation in which wages rise but workers do not produce any more goods than before, so that goods cost more to make and buy

ˌzero inˈflation ECONOMICS

when prices are not rising at all:

• Canada set a series of inflation-reduction targets, with the aim of achieving zero inflation.

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Inflation is a persistent rise in the prices of goods and services, caused by too much money chasing too few goods. Inflation can be caused by an increase in money supply or demand due to government spending or the printing of money, or by a contraction in the supply of goods. Different types of inflation are defined by their cause. Demand-pull inflation is caused by excess demand in the economy, while cost-push inflation is caused by increased costs of production. The rate of inflation is often a primary policy target of governments, and of central banks given policy independence to achieve a target rate. Moderate inflation is common in economies and can be regarded as relatively benign. If all inflation is removed and an economy slips into deflation it can stunt consumption because consumers postpone purchases in the knowledge that goods will become cheaper. Deflation also stunts demand for credit and makes repayment of existing debts more difficult because the value of money is increasing.

► See also Deflation, Hyperinflation, Stagflation.

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inflation UK US /ɪnˈfleɪʃ^ən/ noun [U] ECONOMICS, FINANCE

► an increase in prices over time, causing a reduction in the value of money: high/low/moderate inflation »Higher inflation threatens to force interest rates higher.
falling/rising inflation »Two decades of falling inflation and falling interest rates provided an exceptional, probably unique, boost to equities.
»accelerating/runaway/galloping inflation
a surge/increase/rise in inflation »The rise in inflation will be seen as a major set-back for the chancellor.
»a decline/fall/reduction in inflation
»to control/curb/reduce inflation
push up/fuel inflation »The government raised prices to encourage production, further fuelling inflation.
»the overall rate of inflation
above/below inflation »He is planning to increase public spending by 3.3% above inflation for the next three years.
»The rankings are based on the banks' return on equity, which is then adjusted for inflation.
keep pace with/outstrip inflation »The agency's budget has not kept pace with inflation and the staff has been cut.

→ Compare DEFLATION(Cf. ↑deflation), DISINFLATION(Cf. ↑disinflation), REFLATION(Cf. ↑reflation)

→ See also ANTI-INFLATION(Cf. ↑anti-inflation), ASSET INFLATION(Cf. ↑asset inflation), CONSUMER PRICE INFLATION(Cf. ↑consumer price inflation), CORE INFLATION(Cf. ↑core inflation), COST INFLATION(Cf. ↑cost inflation), COST-PUSH INFLATION(Cf. ↑cost-push inflation), CREEP(Cf. ↑creep) noun, DEMAND INFLATION(Cf. ↑demand inflation), DEMAND-PULL INFLATION(Cf. ↑demand-pull inflation), DOUBLE-DIGIT INFLATION(Cf. ↑double-digit inflation), HEADLINE INFLATION(Cf. ↑headline inflation), HYPERINFLATION(Cf. ↑hyperinflation), RUNAWAY(Cf. ↑runaway), UNDERLYING INFLATION(Cf. ↑underlying inflation), WAGE INFLATION(Cf. ↑wage inflation), WAGE-PUSH INFLATION(Cf. ↑wage-push inflation), ZERO INFLATION(Cf. ↑zero inflation)

Financial and business terms. 2012.