Inflation and the Economy Essay

1. What is inflation? Inflation is an increase in prices for goods and services (What is Inflation?).

Ronald Reagan once said, “ In a world wracked by hatred, economic crisis, and political tension, America remains mankind's best hope.”America may be mankind’s best hope, but will it remain that way? America is the beacon for freedom and equality, but with the recent election, it may difficult for us to remain a country full of diversity and hope. In order for the United States economy to prosper, the government must control inflation rates, raise employment rates, and change the current income inequality ratio.

1) Money and Inflation 1960's: If you have $100 Converted from 1960 to 2005 it would be equivalent to $679.09 today. Inflation is an increase in the price of goods and services in the economy in a certain period. For example, in 1960, $100 would equal $679.09 today which is a noticeably substantial change.

In the 1970s and 1980s the Canadian economy was plagued by issues of inflation and unemployment, or stagflation, as it came to be known. It is generally believed the “severe years of surging inflation and unemployment were the result of the first (1973-1974) and second oil shocks (1979-1980), and the double digit inflation rates in many countries (though not all) that provoked the sense of crisis in these years were caused by the high price of energy, a major factor input” (LK, 2011). However, it is clear that inflation was already a problem in Canada prior to these oil shocks. What caused the inflation in the 1970s is of some debate; but it most likely resulted from the overly-expansionary monetary policies employed by the Bank of Canada;

When is the last time we experienced deflation (prices actually dropped- you will have to go back a few decades)?

It widely recognized that the monetary policy within a country should be primarily concerned with the pursuit of price stability. However, it is still not clear how this objective can be achieved most effectively. This debate remains unsettled, but an increasing number of countries have adopted inflation targeting as their monetary policy framework. (Dr E J van der Merwe, 2002) This topic of Inflation targeting is a subject which immediately conjures different perceptions from different people. Many feel that low inflation should be a main aim of monetary policy, while others (such as trade union activists) believe that a higher growth rate to stimulate jobs should be the main concern.

3. Here are some news reports covering events of the past 35 years. In each case, identify the phase (Phillips, stagflation, or recovery) the economy is in, and suggest what change in aggregate demand or aggregate supply might have caused it.

Targeting interest rates that can directly control inflation. The monetary policy is one that quickly comes into play. Central banks are independent of the government and refrain from political influence. They can boost exports by merely weakening the currency. The benefits of the fiscal policy consist of direct spending to specific purposes, by using taxation they can discourage negative externalities, and have a shorter time lag. The potential costs of the policies can create budget deficits, having to spend tax incentives on imports, and may be motivated by politics.The use of the monetary policy runs the risk of hyperinflation, the time it takes for the effects to materialize, the technical limitations and the fact that financial tools affect the entire

Question 1. How government purchases, in your opinion, have helped to stimulate or hinder the U.S. economy

A lot of literatures have already studied about the inflation and inflation prediction and in this paper literature review will be discussed from the theoretical aspect and empirical aspect. The researches of the inflation, which are studied, by a lot of scholars in the field of economics have been conducted for a long time especially during the 1970s and it is the heyday when people would like to pay more attention to research the inflation. The inflation has become a hot topic among the economic life and social life since 1987. However, no matter whether it is in the western economic field or in the Chinese economic field, people have different definitions on the inflation and so far there is no unified opinion and conclusion can be accepted generally by everyone. For example, Wyplosz and Burda (1997), Blanchard (2000), and Barro (1997) define that inflation is a sustained rising in the overall price level of products and services in an economy throughout the time period. By contrast, Zha and Zhong (2016) define that inflation is considerable as the mechanism to improve economic growth. In general, the common definition of the inflation is that the inflation is a continuous rising process in the aspect of price. In other words, the value of the currency decreases continually.

The relationship between inflation and unemployment is a topic, which has been debated by economists for decades. It is this debate that has made the opinions about it evolve. In this essay, the controversial topic will be discussed by viewing different economists’ opinions on that according to time sequencing.

The U.S. never fully recovered from the Great Depression until the government employed the use of Keynes Economics. John Maynard Keynes was a British economist whose ideas and theories have greatly influenced the practice of modern economics as well as the economic policies of governments worldwide. He believed that in times when the economy slowed down or encountered declines, people would not spend as much money and therefore the economy would steadily decline until a depression occurred. He proposed that if the government injected money into the economy, it would help stimulate consumers to purchase more and firms would produce more as a result, in a continuous cycle. This cycle is called the multiplier effect. Keynes ideas have

Unemployment and inflation have an inverse relationship meaning that as one increases, the other decreases. According to the textbook, an ideal situation for the Federal Reserve would be to achieve both a low level of unemployment and a low level of inflation. After the 9/11 attacks in New York, the United States was put in a tragic financial crisis that led to the recession in 2008.

The Economy is the backbone to society. There are many factors that operate in, and govern our society’s economical structure. Factors such as scarcity and choice, opportunity cost, marginal analysis, microeconomics, macroeconomics, factors of production, production possibilities, law of increasing opportunity cost, economic systems, circular flow model, money, and economic costs and profits all contribute to what is known as the economy. These properties as well as a few others, work together to influence the economy. Microeconomics and Macroeconomics are two major components. Both of these are broken down into several different components that dictate societal norms and views.

I Poonam Pillai hereby declare that the term paper report titled study on Inflation in India that I have submitted is original. I was in regular contact with nominated guide and contacting him for discussing the project.