Analyzing inflation: Measurement problems and trends

Abstract

As a consequence of the crisis of 2007/2008, which started in the United States of America within the financial sector and which then spread to the real sector, the governments of several countries had to bail out financial institutions and companies. Central banks, especially in the U.S. and Europe injected liquidity in large volumes into the markets in order to stabilize the financial sector, a process which might produce higher inflation. This article discusses how inflation is measured and found that the measurement does not include adequately the development of prices of financial assets. Furthermore, it discussed that money supply should include loans, as credit serves as money and has an impact on inflation. One of the main conclusions is that there is a real possibility that inflation rates will increase in the medium term future.