Definitions

What is the Real Definition of Inflation?

Webster's 1983 Definition of Inflation

According to Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary published in 1983 the second definition of "inflation" after "the act of inflating or the condition of being inflated" is:

 "An increase in the amount of currency in circulation, resulting in a relatively sharp and sudden fall in its value and rise in prices: it may be caused by an increase in the volume of paper money issued or of gold mined, or a relative increase in expenditures as when the supply of goods fails to meet the demand.

This definition includes some of the basic economics of inflation and would seem to indicate that inflation is not defined as the increase in prices but as the increase in the supply of money that causes the increase in prices  i.e. inflation is a cause rather than an effect. 

Webster's 2000 Definition of Inflation

However, The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, Copyright © 2000 Published by Houghton Mifflin Company says:

Inflation: 
2) A persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money, caused by an increase in available currency and credit beyond the proportion of available goods and services.

In this definition, inflation would appear to be the consequence or result (rising prices) rather than the cause.

Shifty Words

So between 1983 and 2000 the definition appears to have shifted from the cause to the result. Also note that the cause could be either an increase in money supply or a decrease in available goods and services.

Other Definitions

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc., Relegates Price Inflation to number 3. and says:

Undue expansion or increase, from overissue; -- said of currency. [U.S.]

 WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University, has a witty definition that says: 

inflation 1: a general and progressive increase in prices; "in inflation everything gets more valuable except money" [syn: rising prices] [ant: deflation, disinflation] 

According to investorwords.com

The overall general upward price movement of goods and services in an economy, usually as measured by the Consumer Price Index and the Producer Price Index; opposite of deflation.

From this page we can see that even Dictionaries don't agree on the definition of inflation and economists continue to argue over its primary cause. Although it is generally agreed that economic inflation may be caused by either an increase in the money supply or a decrease in the quantity of goods. 

Therefore it should be equally obvious that falling prices will result from a decrease in the money supply or a rapid increase in the quantity of available goods. The 1990's saw a virtual explosion of inexpensive goods produced in China and other former Communist Countries. So it is no wonder that we in the United States saw falling prices rather than the effects of inflating the money supply in our economy.

However, more recently our money supply has exploded and inflation has been creeping up.

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