Share your insights or perspective on the financial matter presented in the input.

Is inflation a good or bad thing? Why do governments want some inflation?
Inflation is a bad thing.  It makes it much more difficult for people to compare prices and prosperity over a long period of time.  This causes people to ignore the wisdom of their elders (who remember prices from a long time ago). Back in my day, you could get a burger and fries for 15 cents -- a dime for the burger, and a nickel for the fries.   But the minimum wage was only a quarter an hour!  That doesn't help me decide if things have gotten better or worse. How long is "a long period of time"?  That depends on the inflation rate. At 1 percent per year, 50 or 100 years is "a long time". At 10 percent per year, 5 or 10 years. At 100 percent per year, a few months. Because of the Spanish conquests of gold and silver mines in Mexico and Peru, prices in the sixteenth century rose by a factor of 5.5 during the century.  This inflation was recognized as causing lots of social and governmental problems.  Note that this means an average inflation rate of 2 percent per year for a century is known to be a very bad thing. There are several reasons that most governments want some inflation: