"People have to stop wasting our limited resources" + 'Resources' are a whole other issue + By whose definition do you mean 'wasting'? + Deflation is a scary

"People have to stop wasting our limited resources" + 'Resources' are a whole other issue + By whose definition do you mean 'wasting'? + Deflation is a scary thing not because prices go down, that alone is just a number. When deflation hits, what happens is businesses lose incentive to invest. They stop, further driving the spiral. The reason that the Fed shoots for 2% inflation and not 0% is to keep the treadmill moving just a little bit forward - if it stops or goes negative, it has crazy scary implications. Businesses need to see the economy expanding in order to make investments in people, capital equipment etc. which is why 'a little bit of inflation' is good.