莫卡特斯中心-通货膨胀导火索（英）-2022.7-14页.pdfVIP

POLICYBRIEF

AnInflationPrimer

PatrickHoran

July2022

Inflationisanincreaseinthegenerallevelofpricesinaneconomy.Whentheinflationrateisposi-

tive,thepurchasingpowerofmoneyfallsbecausemoremoneyisrequiredtopurchasethesame

basketofgoodsastimegoeson.Althougheconomistsdisagreeaboutwhattheoptimalinflation

rateshouldbe,inflationcanbeveryharmful.

Thedefinitionofinflationmayseemstraightforward,buttherearemultiplewaysofmeasuring

inflation.1Also,despitedecadesofstudyinginflation,economistsstilldisagreeaboutthecauses

ofinflation,especiallywheninflationishighsuchasintoday’senvironment.Confusionoverthe

meaningandcausesofinflationcanleadpolicymakersandthepublictomisguidedconclusions

abouthowtoaddressit.Thispolicybriefprovidesanoverviewofinflationmeasurementanda

frameworkforhowtounderstandinflation’scauses.Althoughnonmonetaryfactorscantempo-

rarilyaffectthepricelevel,inflationisultimatelydeterminedbythemonetaryauthority,theFed-

eralReserve(Fed)inthecaseoftheUnitedStates.Inappropriatelyhighinflationistheproduct

ofpoormonetarypolicy.

MEASURINGINFLATION

Inflationismeasuredbythepercentageriseofapriceindexor“basketofgoods.”Usually,itiscal-

culatedatayear-over-yearrateoramonth-to-monthrate.Thetwomostcommonpriceindicesin

theUnitedStatesaretheConsumerPriceIndex(CPI),whichisreportedbytheBureauofLabor

Statistics,andthePersonalConsumptionExpenditures(PCE)priceindex,whichisreportedby

theBureauofEconomicAnalysis.Eachindexincludesaheadlineandacorenumber.

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