Monetary inflation is a
complex phenomenon. Not only can its causes be several; it can make it more
difficult to distinguish immediate and medium-term economic conditions from
more long term, or structural changes impacting our species economically. Of the former, the relationship between
inflation and whether the markets are competitive or oligarchic (or even
monopolies) can be better understood, and this in term can put us in a better
position to assess the impact of longer-term changes, such as those stemming
from the huge increase in the population of human beings since before the industrial
age. The price of food (i.e., groceries) is a case in point. Specifically, the
impact from presumably temporary shocks during the Covid pandemic should be
distinguished from the impact of oligopolistic markets in keeping prices high, and
of the increase in human mouths more generally (and longer term) representing
increased demand for foodstuff in on a relatively fixed planet.
The full essay is at "Anti-Trust and Monetary Policy."
