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Thanks for that. Inflation is a cumulative effect and makes a lot more sense on a log scale. Interesting to note that the rate of inflation during the civil w

Thanks for that. Inflation is a cumulative effect and makes a lot more sense on a log scale. Interesting to note that the rate of inflation during the civil war dwarfs anything else, which is what one would expect. I also noticed that there was a huge amount of inflation prior to the Great Depression. The post WWII era is interesting not for the huge amount of inflation but the absence of any deflation.

thras 17y ago
No, that's not a graph of inflation rate. That's a graph of price levels. It's not cumulative.
- mbrubeck 17y ago
  The derivative of the price level (i.e. the slope on these charts) is the inflation rate. The slope on the log-scale chart corresponds to the inflation rate in percentages, which is meaningful. The slope on the linear-scale chart is the inflation rate in "dollars per year" which is not. That's why the log-scale chart is more useful for comparing inflation rates over time.
  - thras 17y ago
    Yes, the derivative is the inflation rate. If we want to talk about that, why not look at a graph of that instead? And assuming we can't for some bizarre reason, the log graph is better at comparing inflation rates, huh? So in which graph do you spot the 1665 to 1945 price stability first?