Here's what a lot of people don't understand: inflation is only bad if you have assets. The richer you are, the more assets you have, and the worse inflation is for you, because it means all those assets are now worth less than they were yesterday.
But for the poor it's the exact opposite, because the poor have debt! If you owe $X in credit card debt, and inflation makes $X worth less (while also raising your pay, because inflation doesn't just impact prices it also impacts salaries) then inflation helps you. You borrowed $X when it was worth $X, but when you paid it back you literally gave the lender less than $X (in real value) back.
P.S. Now of course the real world isn't that simple, and if (say) a poor person's employer goes out of business because of inflation, and they can't find a new job, then obviously inflation wasn't so helpful.
But as a general principle, inflation is good for the poor and bad for the rich, which is something that gets lost in our media (which focuses entirely on people with assets, and assumes inflation is bad for everyone, equally).
That sounds sideways or wrong. Poor people don't necessarily have debts. They don't have income or assets. Indebted people like inflation because their debt is worth less _if they can find increased income to pay it down_.
Inflation is bad if you _don't_ have assets. Asset prices inflate too. Your car becomes more valuable simply because other cars are more valuable. Etc. Income is what is stuck because it's an agreement between you and another party to pay you, and that needs to be renegotiated.
Here's what a lot of people don't understand: inflation is only bad if you have assets. The richer you are, the more assets you have, and the worse inflation is for you, because it means all those assets are now worth less than they were yesterday.
But for the poor it's the exact opposite, because the poor have debt! If you owe $X in credit card debt, and inflation makes $X worth less (while also raising your pay, because inflation doesn't just impact prices it also impacts salaries) then inflation helps you. You borrowed $X when it was worth $X, but when you paid it back you literally gave the lender less than $X (in real value) back.
P.S. Now of course the real world isn't that simple, and if (say) a poor person's employer goes out of business because of inflation, and they can't find a new job, then obviously inflation wasn't so helpful.
But as a general principle, inflation is good for the poor and bad for the rich, which is something that gets lost in our media (which focuses entirely on people with assets, and assumes inflation is bad for everyone, equally).
That sounds sideways or wrong. Poor people don't necessarily have debts. They don't have income or assets. Indebted people like inflation because their debt is worth less _if they can find increased income to pay it down_.
Inflation is bad if you _don't_ have assets. Asset prices inflate too. Your car becomes more valuable simply because other cars are more valuable. Etc. Income is what is stuck because it's an agreement between you and another party to pay you, and that needs to be renegotiated.