TOWARD A COMPREHENSIVE DEFINITION OF THE INFLATIONARY PHENOMENON

Being a term that is very frequently used, defining inflation might seem a rather simple undertaking. In reality, however, things are far from straightforward. For this very reason, we shall attempt today to formulate a comprehensive definition of this economic phenomenon — one capable of encompassing its entire complexity. Before anything else, the phenomenon must be divided, at least from a didactic perspective, into several of its constituent parts. Only by analysing each of these parts can we reach an understanding of its full complexity. The essential question to which we must respond is whether inflation is a phenomenon specific to the world of commodities or one that pertains to the world of money. For, in essence, this is what the issue is about. Inflation emerges at the point of contact between money and commodities. And since this contact is far from peaceful, our phenomenon arises precisely there. On the contrary, the interaction between money and the commodities whose purchase it mediates is full of contradictions and conflicts. Inflation results from these very contradictions and conflicts.