By Frank Shostak
Inflation is typically defined as a general increase in the prices of goods and services—described by changes in the Consumer Price Index ((CPI)) or other price indexes.
If inflation is a general rise in measured prices, then why is it regarded as bad news? What kind of damage can it inflict? Mainstream economists maintain that inflation causes speculative buying, which generates waste. Inflation, it is maintained, also erodes the real incomes of pensioners and low-income earners and causes a misallocation of resources.
Despite all of these assertions regarding inflation's side effects, mainstream