Inflation means rising prices of goods and services

Disinflation is the phenomenon of rising prices, but at a decelerating rate.

A super high inflation rate was one of the reasons why Adolf Hitler was able to capitalize on the public discontent and rise to power in Germany in the 1920s.

Hungary has experienced a monthly inflation rate of 41.9 quadrillion percent!!!

During July of 1946, after WWII, prices doubled about every 13.5 hours in Hungary.

In simple words, this means that if a young person like you in the 1970s did not invest US$100 at a return of approx. 3.5% per annum, he/she would have lost real value in the years gone by since the original US$100 are worth far less!

Current annual inflation rate in Venezuela is approximately 700% (2021).

50% per month is usually regarded as the unofficial threshold of hyperinflation. If rates exceed this threshold, the economy is said be in a hyper-inflationary environment.

100 quintillion! That’s basically 10 to the power of 18 (short scale). A dizzying number of zeros..

A paltry sum of 0.2%! Do you now see what loss of purchasing power means?

A small amount of stable inflation is good for companies and their stock prices since increasing selling prices translate into higher profits!

In 1923 hyperinflation in Germany became so bad that workers were often paid twice a day because their wages basically became worthless from the morning to the afternoon!

By autumn 1923 it cost more to print a note than the note was worth.

Although Zimbabwe holds the record for the largest number of zeros on a banknote (100,000,000,000,000), Hungary actually printed (but never issued) the largest banknote ever for one sextillion pengő.

By 265 CE there were no more precious metals left for the Romans to plunder in the countries they had conquered. They tried to make up for this shortfall by debasing more money, levying more and more taxes on their people, leading to hyperinflation so severe that it paralyzed the Roman economy.

The 80% mortality rate of the bubonic plague increased the supply of available currency which led to inflation. Even though workers were paid more for their services after the plague, they lost much purchasing power because of it.

President Ford even release “WIN”-buttons, standing for “Whip Inflation Now.” These buttons were ridiculed and often worn upside down, with people claiming that it stood for “No Immediate Miracles,” or “Need Immediate Money.”

In today’s (2022) terms, Gone With the Wind would’ve grossed about $1,606,254,800!

Printing more money only worsens the problem, as it can cause a rise in demand for certain goods and services. The increased demand generally leads to price increases, as there isn’t sufficient supply to cover the increased demand.

Each morning shoppers would race to the supermarkets, trying to buy their items before supermarket employees had time to put new price stickers on.

The first collapse was that of the Continental Currency during the Revolutionary war. The second was that of the Confederation notes during the Civil War.

Continentals, which is what the newly minted colonial paper currency was called, were issued from 1775 to 1779 to finance the cost of the war. The currency quickly lost value, partly because it was not backed by a physical asset like gold or silver, but also due to the fact that too many bills were printed. These two factors contributed to the coining of the disparaging term “not worth a continental.”2