Abstract
This article essay reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the causes and consequences of inflation – of a continuously rising price level and falling value of money. It describes the research agendas using the analytical distinction between anticipated inflation – an idealized situation in which prices are rising at a rate at which all economic agents expect them to rise – and unanticipated inflation. The literature on the effects of inflation on economic growth and unemployment, inflation in open economies, positive theories of central bank behavior, inflation and fiscal policy, and policies towards inflation including interest rate and inflation targeting receives particular attention.
This chapter was originally published in The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd edition, 2008. Edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume
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Parkin, M. (2008). Inflation. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_888-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95121-5_888-2
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