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> Inflation is actually the increase in the money supply. The term is used wrong almost everywhere today. The word has multiple meanings. That’s monetary infla

> Inflation is actually the increase in the money supply. The term is used wrong almost everywhere today. The word has multiple meanings. That’s monetary inflation. The primary meaning in use today is price inflation.

_heimdall 2y ago
Its used in many ways, that doesn't redefine the word though. Inflation is a policy of increasing the money supply, nothing more and nothing less. Inflation is not price increases. If that is the definition then the metric is effectively useless. Prices can increase for any number of reasons, looking only at price changes doesn't tell us anything meaningful or actionable.
- adastra22 2y ago
  “Inflation” doesn’t mean anything by itself. It is a shorthand for either price inflation or monetary inflation. Or inflating a balloon. Context is needed.
  - _heimdall 2y ago
    > “Inflation” doesn’t mean anything by itself. It absolutely does when the correct definition is still used. Inflation is an increase in money supply, that's really all there is to it. Your point is why the use of "inflation" to mean price increases is so meaningless. Prices change for any number of reasons and you need context. When "inflation" still means in increase in the money supply there is no context required to know what it means, though obviously that's not all the information you need to understand the economy.
    - interestica 2y ago
      What's "shrinkflation"?
    - bluecalm 2y ago
      https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inflation https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inflation You are wrong and that's why you are misunderstood. I would suggest just saying "increase in money supply" if you mean increase of money supply instead of using a term that means "a continuing rise in the general price level". That will make people understand what you mean.
- monktastic1 2y ago
  It's not just "used in many ways," it has several definitions. The one that almost everybody uses -- including the Fed[0], US Dept of Labor[1], and the ECB[2] -- is about rise in prices. Nobody is saying that your definition is bad or wrong, but to claim that it's the only (or even primary) one is disingenuous. [0] https://www.clevelandfed.org/center-for-inflation-research/inflation-101 https://www.clevelandfed.org/center-for-inflation-research/i... [1] https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/statistics/inflation https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/statistics/inflation [2] https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb-and-you/explainers/tell-me-more/html/what_is_inflation.en.html https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb-and-you/explainers/tell-me-mor...
  - _heimdall 2y ago
    Sure, though it makes sense that most economists use the price inflation term. The change in how "inflation" was being used largely goes back to Keynes and Modern Monetary Theory. Most economists today fall into that bucket, of course they use the term in the same way. That doesn't change the fact that the attempt to redefine it both co-opted the word and made it functionally useless. Prices change for all kinds of reasons. The amount of change alone is meaningless and using that meaning of the word allows economists today to play a lot of shell games with the numbers.
    - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
      > change in how "inflation" was being used largely goes back to Keynes and Modern Monetary Theory This is totally false. It dates to the inter-War period, specifically, to describe Weimar hyperinflation. (If you just look at money supply, it was bad. If you look at prices it was the disaster that it was.)
- jjk166 2y ago
  > Its used in many ways, that doesn't redefine the word though. That's exactly how words get redefined.
erulabs 2y ago
> Word X means Y, NOT Z Wittgenstien would like a word. Words always mean whatever the hell the speaker thinks they mean, which is always unverifiable. We should always endeavor to understand what people _think they mean_ instead of insisting on some (faulty) denotation. The inflation argument is always frustrating. In a vacuum, inflating the _supply of money_ would delate the _price of money_ which inflates the _prices of goods_. Most people say "inflation" to mean the price of goods, but it does no good to insist that one definition means you can't use the word in other ways!
- lottin 2y ago
  So I can use the word 'dog' to mean a cat? Nonsense. The purpose of words is to communicate meaning. Therefore we must agree on what that meaning is beforehand in order to communicate effectively.
  - singlow 2y ago
    Don't for heaven's sake, be afraid of talking nonsense! But you must pay attention to your nonsense.
  - erulabs 2y ago
    What's a dog? Is a child's plastic toy in the shape of a dog a dog? Maybe. Is a cross-bread wolfhound a dog? Maybe. Language games! Meaning is "fuzzy around the edges". If you insist a cat is a dog, we're not playing a fun game - but that's up to me and up to you - Maybe someone in an undiscovered tribe doesn't know these words and wouldn't balk. If you say "dog" when you mean to insult someone, I might know what you're saying. But there is no mechanism to verify internal meaning. I _strongly_ suggest reading some Wittgenstien if you're interested in this topic! If I say I speak Swedish fluently but refuse to ever utter a word, do I speak Swedish? Only our actions can vaguely point at our meaning. Language is a game we play with each other which does not and cannot communicate ultimate meaning. All we can do is agree or disagree to play games - animals dancing around a fire.
  - _heimdall 2y ago
    This is my main beef with "inflation" being used differently now from what it had been historically. Going back to the roman empire it was always about money supply increase, Keynes and crew decided that didn't sit well with them since money supply manipulation was their whole game.

_heimdall 2y ago

Its used in many ways, that doesn't redefine the word though. Inflation is a policy of increasing the money supply, nothing more and nothing less. Inflation is not price increases. If that is the definition then the metric is effectively useless. Prices can increase for any number of reasons, looking only at price changes doesn't tell us anything meaningful or actionable.

adastra22 2y ago
“Inflation” doesn’t mean anything by itself. It is a shorthand for either price inflation or monetary inflation. Or inflating a balloon. Context is needed.
- _heimdall 2y ago
  > “Inflation” doesn’t mean anything by itself. It absolutely does when the correct definition is still used. Inflation is an increase in money supply, that's really all there is to it. Your point is why the use of "inflation" to mean price increases is so meaningless. Prices change for any number of reasons and you need context. When "inflation" still means in increase in the money supply there is no context required to know what it means, though obviously that's not all the information you need to understand the economy.
  - interestica 2y ago
    What's "shrinkflation"?
  - bluecalm 2y ago
    https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inflation https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inflation You are wrong and that's why you are misunderstood. I would suggest just saying "increase in money supply" if you mean increase of money supply instead of using a term that means "a continuing rise in the general price level". That will make people understand what you mean.
monktastic1 2y ago
It's not just "used in many ways," it has several definitions. The one that almost everybody uses -- including the Fed[0], US Dept of Labor[1], and the ECB[2] -- is about rise in prices. Nobody is saying that your definition is bad or wrong, but to claim that it's the only (or even primary) one is disingenuous. [0] https://www.clevelandfed.org/center-for-inflation-research/inflation-101 https://www.clevelandfed.org/center-for-inflation-research/i... [1] https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/statistics/inflation https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/statistics/inflation [2] https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb-and-you/explainers/tell-me-more/html/what_is_inflation.en.html https://www.ecb.europa.eu/ecb-and-you/explainers/tell-me-mor...
- _heimdall 2y ago
  Sure, though it makes sense that most economists use the price inflation term. The change in how "inflation" was being used largely goes back to Keynes and Modern Monetary Theory. Most economists today fall into that bucket, of course they use the term in the same way. That doesn't change the fact that the attempt to redefine it both co-opted the word and made it functionally useless. Prices change for all kinds of reasons. The amount of change alone is meaningless and using that meaning of the word allows economists today to play a lot of shell games with the numbers.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > change in how "inflation" was being used largely goes back to Keynes and Modern Monetary Theory This is totally false. It dates to the inter-War period, specifically, to describe Weimar hyperinflation. (If you just look at money supply, it was bad. If you look at prices it was the disaster that it was.)
jjk166 2y ago
> Its used in many ways, that doesn't redefine the word though. That's exactly how words get redefined.

erulabs 2y ago

> Word X means Y, NOT Z Wittgenstien would like a word. Words always mean whatever the hell the speaker thinks they mean, which is always unverifiable. We should always endeavor to understand what people _think they mean_ instead of insisting on some (faulty) denotation. The inflation argument is always frustrating. In a vacuum, inflating the _supply of money_ would delate the _price of money_ which inflates the _prices of goods_. Most people say "inflation" to mean the price of goods, but it does no good to insist that one definition means you can't use the word in other ways!

lottin 2y ago
So I can use the word 'dog' to mean a cat? Nonsense. The purpose of words is to communicate meaning. Therefore we must agree on what that meaning is beforehand in order to communicate effectively.
- singlow 2y ago
  Don't for heaven's sake, be afraid of talking nonsense! But you must pay attention to your nonsense.
- erulabs 2y ago
  What's a dog? Is a child's plastic toy in the shape of a dog a dog? Maybe. Is a cross-bread wolfhound a dog? Maybe. Language games! Meaning is "fuzzy around the edges". If you insist a cat is a dog, we're not playing a fun game - but that's up to me and up to you - Maybe someone in an undiscovered tribe doesn't know these words and wouldn't balk. If you say "dog" when you mean to insult someone, I might know what you're saying. But there is no mechanism to verify internal meaning. I _strongly_ suggest reading some Wittgenstien if you're interested in this topic! If I say I speak Swedish fluently but refuse to ever utter a word, do I speak Swedish? Only our actions can vaguely point at our meaning. Language is a game we play with each other which does not and cannot communicate ultimate meaning. All we can do is agree or disagree to play games - animals dancing around a fire.
- _heimdall 2y ago
  This is my main beef with "inflation" being used differently now from what it had been historically. Going back to the roman empire it was always about money supply increase, Keynes and crew decided that didn't sit well with them since money supply manipulation was their whole game.