If inflation is continuous year-on-year, how does that become tenable over say 100-200+ years

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This thought came to me as I was food shopping. So I know there are things that increase the price of certain items (beer, cigarettes, sugar tax – UK) but they also increase with inflation each year like other foods such as bread.

Apparently, the average inflation raise over the last 10 years in the US is 2.37% as of July 2023. So if it is the same in another 10-years, over the space of 20 years inflation would be 4.74%, if we say inflation is the same? And so on and so on. If it continues wouldn’t prices, for say, bread just end up getting higher and higher and be like $10-15+? And as wages don’t rise with inflation the same way foods do fewer and fewer people each decade could afford it?

Now this is just random thoughts I had when shopping and I am not making any comments on any politics. All I wanted to know is, is my thinking true that prices will just go up and up indefinitely decade-on-decade, why or why not? And I am an idiot so imagine I am 5.

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Edit: Went to sleep and woke up to about 300 notifications, thanks for your explanation to a Neanderthal like myself.

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20 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Yes prices continue to go up. So do wages though. Not always at the same rate but that’s a separate discussion. The damage deflation can do to an economy is really bad. So governments deliberately maintain some inflation to avoid it.

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