Usual Suspect… Inflation?
John Ink2Quill Opinions
www.ink2quill.com

There are so many discussions about inflation nowadays. It is the phenomenon that gets the blame for all the ills of the Western World today. If the taxation systems seem unfair or outdated, well then it’s the fault of inflation because blah, blah, blah. If any of the economies in the West slow, well it’s the fault of inflation. And if health care is less accessible, well we know who the culprit is. Inflation.

The reasoning behind this is that most problems of governments, industries and communities is the cost of goods and services. Regulating the cost of things and avoiding wild swings in prices will keep away negative disruptions in the economy. That sounds cogent but is price alone really a universal metric for all of society’s problems? No doubt that it is a strain on the consumer when things get more and more expensive year after year but what are the causes? Is it possible that inflation is a symptom or result of some other forces in our societies that we have not adequately looked at? I believe so.

Firstly, I believe there are many causes for inflation. It’s not just money printing or economic irresponsibility as some call it. Changes in technology, innovations can lead to cultural changes and changes in spending habits. Some goods and services previously in demand could become worthless with a changing society and habits.

Another reason is the cost of fraud on a society which, I believe, is a large influence on prices and accessibility to goods and services. For example, people buying financial, investment assets that they do not really know enough about leads to all kinds of frauds were investors can lose their money. The disappearance of investors’ money in large enough pools is a cost that makes people’s lives more expensive, especially those in the middle class and below.

This leads into another reason for inflation, so I believe, and that reason is the disappearance of the middle class. In a functioning society the middle class should make up the largest percentage of the population with the lion’s share of the wealth going toward velocity in spending. We have accepted the false notion, in my opinion, that the top 1% should own most everything but history has shown us that such beliefs lead to all kinds of injustices and the stifling of growth because growth can only take place if the 1% agree to it and own it.

There are so many more reasons for inflation. To keep track of them all and get a better understanding of the phenomenon we need to start looking at all the things that influence prices, spending, saving, investing as well as the monopolies and large corporate mergers. That would be a good start.

So, to sum up my thoughts on inflation. I believe that inflation is one symptom that can come from many different possible problems the same way nausea or a headache can be the symptom for many different medical issues.

John Ink2Quill

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