Thursday 261029
Mostly summarized from Gregory Mankiw’s Principles of Economics, 5th Ed. PART 10 Money and Prices in the Long Run Chapter 30 of 36 Money Growth and Inflation Section 21 of 24 … Economists have identified several costs of inflation · shoe leather costs · menu costs · inflation-induced tax distortions · confusion and inconvenience · arbitrary redistribution of wealth All create relative price variability and the misallocation of resources. … Confusion and Inconvenience If we yearly changed how many inches were in a yard, it would cause confusion and inconvenience. Money is the economy's unit of account and is what we use to quote prices, record debts, and measure all economic transactions. When the Federal Reserve increases the money supply and creates inflation it decreases the real value of the unit of account. This causes substantial costs due to the resulting confusion and inconvenience. The tax code incorrectly measures real incomes because of inflation. Similarly, accountants...