Can inflation actually be fixed? Is there any hope? Or will prices just gradually keep increasing?
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After reading the comments and your replies to the answers here I get the sense that you have a gut feeling about things and what you’re being told doesn’t make sense. I would say to you trust that instinct and keep digging further.
To clear things up in this thread, people are conflating many different terms and economic theories.
Inflation: The increase in money supply(increase in money supply means prices will go up).
Price increase: This can be due to the increase in money supply(inflation) or due to many other factors such as supply chain disruptions, shortages etc.
Deflation: The decrease in money supply.
Price decrease: The decrease in the price of goods which is normally the result of innovation, technology and production.
Consumer Price Index(CPI): a self referential measure of the increase of a basket of goods.
The idea that an inflation rate of 2%(people are really referring to CPI) is a belief commonly taught and repeated but this is based on faulty assumptions. Inflation(as in increase in money supply) causes malinvestment, short term borrowing/spending and causes bubbles to form.
Prices should actually be going down as innovation and productivity increases however due to inflation prices are going up, especially in assets.
TLDR People are conflating too many terms and the idea that slight inflation is good for the economy is not correct
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