What does inflation even mean these days? I thought it means when you increase the money supply the purchasing power of one dollar goes down. Then when you go to wikipedia it says inflation means "general price level of goods and services in an economy". I thought that's just a possible and likely outcome of inflation, not the definition.
Then they talk about stuff like "food inflation" and at first you think well that's good the price of food is going down as the amount of food in the markets increases, but then they say it actually means that the price of food is going up. What? In "money inflation" the value of money goes down but in "food inflation" the value of food goes up.
This doesn't make any sense. Why can't we just use the old definition for inflation? These days it seems like inflation simply means price increase and has nothing to do with monetary policy. So what is the "old inflation" called these days? Like when you increase the money supply the value of one dollar goes down. What's that called these days now that "new inflation" simply means general price increase and even supply chain disruptions can cause "inflation" somehow.
Then they talk about stuff like "food inflation" and at first you think well that's good the price of food is going down as the amount of food in the markets increases, but then they say it actually means that the price of food is going up. What? In "money inflation" the value of money goes down but in "food inflation" the value of food goes up.
This doesn't make any sense. Why can't we just use the old definition for inflation? These days it seems like inflation simply means price increase and has nothing to do with monetary policy. So what is the "old inflation" called these days? Like when you increase the money supply the value of one dollar goes down. What's that called these days now that "new inflation" simply means general price increase and even supply chain disruptions can cause "inflation" somehow.