eli5: Since inflation pushes the price of items up every year, does that mean we’re eventually going to get to a point where it’s normal to pay like $20 for a carton of milk?

Question

eli5: Since inflation pushes the price of items up every year, does that mean we’re eventually going to get to a point where it’s normal to pay like $20 for a carton of milk?

In: Economics

Answer 1

Yes, most likely.

If someone in 1913 asked “will inflation mean something that costs 10 cents now will some day cost a dollar?” the answer would be yes. In fact, it’s more likely to cost $3 today.

Inflation might stop at some point – nothing goes on forever – (and also the value of currencies can be ‘reset’) but there aren’t any signs of that happening yet.