inflation Hear it!

inflation Definition

in·fla·tion (in flā′s̸hən)

noun

  1. an inflating or being inflated
  2. ☆
    1. an increase in the amount of money and credit in relation to the supply of goods and services
    2. an increase in the general price level, resulting from this, specif., an excessive or persistent increase, causing a decline in purchasing power

Etymology: ME inflacioun < L inflatio

inflation Synonyms

inflation

n.

  1. Increase

    expansion, extension, buildup; see increase 1.

  2. General rise in price levels

    inflationary trend, inflationary cycle, inflationary spiral, rising prices, spiraling prices, move toward higher price levels, reflation, expanding economy, boom, financial crisis; see also rise 2.

inflation Finance Definition
The rise in prices of goods and services. Inflation is measured by the percentage of price increase. For example, a moderate rate of inflation, approximately 1 to 3 percent, is seen as healthy for an economy. When prices rise more than 3 percent, inflation can produce economic turmoil. People who don’t have the ability to increase their income at the same rate as inflation, such as retirees or students, are particularly hurt. If inflation rises to excessively high levels, that is called hyperinflation. Inflation is caused by too many dollars chasing too few goods.
inflation Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • outpace: However, the cost of admission has outpaced inflation over the same period.
  • outstrip: Twenty years later such records still surface in specialist reggae auctions and set sales at prices which have rapidly outstripped inflation.
  • accelerate: China, India Some investors buy gold to hedge against accelerating inflation.
  • gallop: It justifies these demands by persuading them that they are suffering from unmanageable debt and galloping inflation.
  • soar: The free market forces they support would mean soaring inflation, rising prices and growing unemployment.

Adjective modifier

  • rampant: Construction is now the largest indigenous industry sector although rampant land price inflation since 1997 would account for much of the growth in turnover.
  • runaway: The Interest rate cuts could stave off recession temporarily but risk creating runaway inflation and a collapse in the dollar.
  • double-digit: During the 1980s, people were menaced by double-digit inflation, trade union power and the Cold War.
  • demand-pull: A trade deficit during an economic boom helps to reduce demand-pull inflation.
  • low: However, with much lower inflation, the burden of debt will be hanging around a lot longer.
  • underlying: Underlying inflation is 2.1 per cent - around its lowest level for over five years.

Modifies a noun

  • target: Is an inflation target the best monetary policy strategy for the UK to pursue?
  • targeting: Inflation Targeting: What Can the ECB Learn From the Recent Experience of the Bank of England?
  • forecast: Describes the role of the inflation forecast in the MPC's decisions.
  • expectation: Every quarter, NOP carries out a survey of the inflation expectations of the general public.
  • outlook: The existing imbalances pose risks also to the inflation outlook.

Noun used with modifier

  • house-price: The rate of Dutch house-price inflation then slowed from 20 % in 2000 to nearly zero by 2003.
  • wage: The level of wage inflation, which has been low, will be reassessed at the start of 2006.
  • cost-push: Economists divide them into two main groups, demand-pull and cost-push inflation.
  • price: Journal price inflation is still running at about 8 % per year.
inflation Quotes

Having a little inflation is like being a little pregnant.

—Henderson, Leon

We now have the worst of both worldsönot just inflation on the one side or stagnation on the other, but both of them together.We have a sort of stagflation situation.

—MacLennan, Hugh

Rising prices or wages do not cause inflation; they only report it. They represent an essential form of economic speech, sincemoney isjust another form of information.

—Wriston,Walter Bigelow

   Steel prices cause inflation like wet sidewalks cause rain.

—Blough, Roger M(iles)