inflation

How far can you stretch a dollar? This is the age-old question. The value of a dollar: Always the sobering 'Yin' to the raging 'Yang' of services.

Inflation is a very complicated beast, but it is generally considered by most people to be defined as a rise in the price of goods and services. Although, the Austrian economists define it as the increase in the supply of money.


Inflation has also been called the "Eroder of Purchasing Power." The Inflation Rate (percentage change in a General Price Index over time) is the main indicator of inflation.

The bad side of price inflation is that there is a very real decrease in the value of money. Also, it tends to discourage people to invest. The good things that come from inflation include softening of economic recessions and debt relief by reducing the real level of debt.


Inflation is caused by many, many factors, but it is generally caused when the money supply grows faster than the rate of economic growth. Believe it or not, most economists favor a low, steady rate of inflation as opposed to zero or negative inflation. It helps reduce recessions and stabilize the economy.

Bloggers speaking about inflation can be found at sites like mint and mises.

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Original Technorati articles tagged “inflation”

• in Finance
  Hedge Against Inflation with Real Asset Investments
  If you are concerned that Quantitative Easing poses future inflationary risks then consider hedging with real assets
  by greenworldbvi / on Apr 16, 2012
• in Business
  Inflation Or Deflation. Which Will Carry The Day?
  The debate over inflationary vs. deflationary forces marches on.
  by leovou / on Oct 14, 2011
• in Politics
  How Much is Gold's Value REALLY Increasing?
  A look at the value of gold compared to another common commodity.
  by lukestanek / on Sep 6, 2011

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “inflation”

 

• Moody’s warns the US sovereign credit rating remains vulnerable to downgrade if projected rise in debt levels is not addressed

  
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  Tweet By Kymberly Martin NZ yields closed up 5-8bps across the curve, following the offshore lead. NZ 2-year swap closed up 5bps, at 2.89%, still within the fairly tight range it has traded for the past ...
  4 days ago

• Student Loans Won’t Kill Housing Recovery

  
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  I’ve heard so much about “students drowning in debt” and that it would kill any housing rebound we would see that I was obliged to look into it. Before we get started I need to set some parameters because conversations like this always get into “who’s side you are on” and the message you try to ...
  4 days ago

• Is Ben Bernanke’s Bazooka Brigade Running Out of Ammo?

  
  — Authority:
  The Federal Reserve will meet to debate policy on June 18 and 19 under the full scrutiny of U.S. market participants. Analysts and investors won’t receive the minutes from the meeting for three weeks — the standard lag time — but observers have a good idea about what the Federal Open Market Committee will be ...
  4 days ago

• Money Debauchery Continues

  
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  I was a small child when America’s coinage began to be debased in 1965. My dad was a coin collector who fastidiously filled blue coin books with old coins. I remember being especially intrigued by the 1943 steel penny. During World War II, my dad explained, the country was short on copper, and the Mint used steel to ...
  4 days ago

• Singing the Minimum Wage Blues

  
  — Authority:
  My first job ever was working for my dad at his convenience store in West Vancouver. My first REAL job was being a busser (what they called service assistants or SAs) at a Bread Garden. The work was menial and the pay was low… just like anyone would expect from a job requiring no pre-requisite skills or knowledge. ...
  4 days ago

• Daily Nugget – Gold price bears roaring

  
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  therealasset.co.uk / By Will Bancroft / May 20 2013 G old prices  fell for the eighth straight session today as bearish bets on the yellow metal rise. It still remains vulnerable to institutional selling. Gold futures fells 5% on COMEX last week. Holdings in gold bullion backed ETPs remain at their lowest level ...
  4 days ago

• Why All Governments Hate Gold

  
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  MOTIVE: The various governments of the world and their central banks produce and distribute a product – paper currencies. Those currencies are backed by confidence, faith, and credit, but not by gold, oil, or anything real. Those currencies are digitally printed to excess, since almost all governments spend more ...
  4 days ago

• Germany is willing to accept a higher inflation target but does it matter?

  
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  Last year, we saw a sea change in official German policy regarding the euro crisis and inflation. The German government came out in favour of accepting higher inflation domestically in Germany as a sacrifice for eurozone wage and price adjustments to help alleviate crisis. The question is whether this matters. I ...
  4 days ago

• DAVID BIANCO: The Stock Market Rally Sure Looks Like Something Out Of The 1980s – Weak earnings growth, strong dollar, falling commodity prices.

  
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  Earnings growth expectations are weak , manufacturing activity is decelerating, the dollar is strengthening, commodity prices are deteriorating, and business spending is anemic. Yet stocks have been rallying. In a new research note titled “Remember The 80s?” Deutsche Bank’s David Bianco reminds us that these ...
  4 days ago

• JGB FUTURES COLLAPSING

  
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  Japanese Government Bond FUTURES NARROWLY AVOID THIRD HALT IN THREE DAYS (BY A TICK); 5Y YIELDS JUMP TO HIGHEST IN 22 MONTHS http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GJGB10:IND JGB Futures avoid a third halt in three days by 1 tick (drop 0.99 vs 1.00 handle limit) but two words spring to mind – not orderly. It seems the ...
  4 days ago

• Secondary Sources: Inflation, Jobs for Graduates, Helicopter Money

  
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  A roundup of economic news from around the Web.
  4 days ago

• U.S. Bonds Cheapest Since 1990

  
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  U.S. Bonds Cheapest Since ’90 Versus Bunds Counter Buffett By Cordell Eddings The longest decline in Treasuries this year has left U.S. government debt the cheapest since March 2011 when measured by real yields and the best relative value compared with German bunds in more than two decades. After inflation, ...
  4 days ago

• Hedging Strategies for Individual Investors

  
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  This is a nice hedge, but has nothing to do with investing. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Hedging strategies are an essential tool for investors to use in order to minimize risk and increase profits over the long term. But an effective hedging strategy can also be the most difficult thing for an individual retail ...
  4 days ago

• Malawi inflation down by 0.6%:JB expects to average 7.4 % in 2014

  
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  The National Statistical Office (NSO) says the year on year headline inflation for the month of April 2013 eased to 35.8 percent, representing a minimal 0.6 percentage points down on the month of March. The NSO said urban and rural rates stand at 42 percent and 31.2 percent respectively. “Core inflation which ...
  4 days ago

• Inflation Deflated? Evaluating the ‘Alibaba Index’

  
  WSJ.com: China Journal — Authority: 145
  After an article in The Wall Street Journal drew attention to a rival inflation index created by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba that suggested Chinas official inflation numbers might be too low, the National Bureau of Statistics went into action.
  4 days ago

• Hey, show me the water!

  
  Kubatana.net speaks out from Zimbabwe — Authority: 143
  Virtually every corner of Zimbabwe has huge challenges concerning access to clean water, and despite all talk about the country committing itself to meeting its MDG targets with 2015 fast approaching, it is quite a statement to hear a woman ask the Harare mayor, “can you tell us if the water in our taps is safe to ...
  4 days ago

• Bird flu costs China industry US$65b: state media

  
  heave-ho.org — Authority: 159
  China’s human H7N9 bird flu outbreak has cost the country’s poultry industry more than 400 billion yuan (HK$500 billion) as consumers shun chicken, government officials said according to state media Monday. The sector has been losing an average of one billion yuan a day since the end of March, the Beijing Times ...
  4 days ago

• High inflation here to stay, says leading forecaster

  
  The Guardian - guardian.co.uk — Authority: 986
  Despite impact on household budgets, Item Club said Bank of England was right to stick to its guns by allowing inflation to overshoot Households are facing a continued squeeze on their spending power after a leading forecaster warned that high inflation was here to stay. The Ernst & Young Item Club, which uses ...
  4 days ago

• Commercial Real Estate Recovery Facing Challenges

  
  — Authority:
  Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, has warned that even as the economy picks up and more employment opportunities are created, the commercial real estate market faces a number of challenges as it makes its first tentative steps towards a recovery. © Photoroller | Dreamstime ...
  5 days ago

• 16 years of Inflation and Bond Yields

  
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  We’ve discussed how Inflation Indexed Bonds might work in India, and like in the US, the difference in the yields between the two is likely to be the expectation of inflation. Let’s look at how the spread between the known WPI has been in the past: (this is the 10 year government bond) Technote: for pre-2004, I ...
  5 days ago

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