Inflation existed before 1913. What was different was that inflationary periods were counterbalanced by periods of deflation. There's a reason why the Federal

Inflation existed before 1913. What was different was that inflationary periods were counterbalanced by periods of deflation. There's a reason why the Federal Reserve has two primary missions--stable prices and maximum employment. Deflationary periods cause massive unemployment and declines in investment, so they really want to avoid deflationary periods. Ask any economically literate historian about the devastation deflation causes at the individual level; it's far, far worse than inflation at nominally comparable levels. This is why the Fed is biased toward inflation. 20th (post-Bretton Woods) and 21st century inflationary periods haven't been any worse than the 19th century or early, but we have avoided severe deflationary periods, and that's absolutely worth the small long-term inflation. It's also arguably kept prices more stable, but confounders (technology, etc) make comparisons with the 19th century industrial revolution complicated--the emergence and rapid evolution (to this day) of the commodification of goods and services.