I’ve been wondering this question for a while. Ignoring current events, why is a little bit of inflation desirable?
I do understand that it’s done to “stimulate” the economy so people don’t let their cash rot in a checking account, but isn’t it a zero-sum game? Everybody says that money is not meant to stay where it is, rather, should flow through the economy. But if the economy always needs injections of liquidity because otherwise it fails, isn’t the economy broken?
I feel like there’s something I can’t comprehend about that.
Over the long term, wages go up. Over the short term, people get left behind.
There are lots of things that suck for individuals, but are good for the economy as a whole. There are also lots of things that suck for the economy as a whole and are great for a select few.
This is why the bedrock of any sane civilized population is public education. We try to give most individuals the opportunity to learn as much about how our society works as possible to give individuals the best chance at success available.
This is also why the current geopolitical situation was built on decades of undermining public education with homeschooling and “parent choice” initiatives. The USA’s “No Child Left Behind” Act created an entire generation of children ripped out of public schools after decades of defunding public education created such poor conditions that parents were duped into believing dismantling public education was the solution.
Uneducated kids become ignorant, easily manipulated voters. Social media algorithms were specifically engineered to exploit this mechanism.