Lesson summary: The costs of inflation (article) | Khan Academy (2024)

In this lesson summary review and remind yourself of the key terms and calculations used in describing the costs of inflation.

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  • Eileen Preston

    6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to Eileen Preston's post “What about producers of p...”

    What about producers of products. You produce apples. You sell them. Inflation went up so what does that mean for the producer - will he make more money because apples cost more than the year before?

    (6 votes)

    • melanie

      6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to melanie's post “If by "make more" you mea...”

      Lesson summary: The costs of inflation (article) | Khan Academy (4)

      If by "make more" you mean profit, well, that depends. In the short run, an apple producer might benefit from inflation because some of their costs don't change. For example, suppose you hire workers at $10 per hour on a one-year contract. Midway through the year there is inflation so the price of apples increases. IN that case, yes, you might benefit from inflation. In fact, you would even respond to that inflation by producing more.

      But, in the long run, those workers will eventually want higher wages because of inflation. Once all of those costs have also adjusted, the producer doesn't benefit at all any more.

      This is actually covered in a later lesson on something called "Short-run aggregate supply".

      (14 votes)

  • Victor Parmar

    5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to Victor Parmar's post “I still did not quite ful...”

    I still did not quite fully understand why 0 inflation, i.e., no change, is a bad thing. Shouldn't this be the ideal goal?

    (4 votes)

  • Patrik Leskovsek

    4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to Patrik Leskovsek's post “Game of Thrones question ...”

    Game of Thrones question number 2? :D

    (6 votes)

  • 😊

    5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to 😊's post “what is the effect of a r...”

    what is the effect of a rise in unexpected inflation by 5% on the following people; 1 a union member with a wage contract
    2.someone with a large stash of cash in safe deposit
    3.a bank lending money at a fixed interest rate
    4.a person who is not due to receive a pay raise for another 11 months

    (4 votes)

    • JHW624

      9 months agoPosted 9 months ago. Direct link to JHW624's post “My view:⭐Union member wi...”

      My view:
      ⭐Union member with a wage contract: It depends. If the contract includes cost-of-living adjustments or clauses that link wages to inflation, the individual may see their wages increase in response to higher inflation. However, if the contract does not account for unexpected inflation, the purchasing power of their wages may decline, as their income fails to keep up with the rising prices.

      ⭐Individual with a large stash of cash in a safe deposit: As prices rise, the purchasing power of cash diminishes.

      ⭐Bank lending money at a fixed interest rate: The borrower benefits because they are repaying the loan with money that has lower purchasing power due to inflation.

      ⭐Person not due to receive a pay raise for another 11 months: They might experience a decrease in real wages until their next scheduled pay raise, which is 11 months later.

      Hope that helps :)

      (2 votes)

  • Malko_28

    4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to Malko_28's post “"Unexpected inflation arb...”

    "Unexpected inflation arbitrarily redistributes wealth from one group to another group, such as from borrowers to lenders."
    This confuses me, as from what I understand, inflation is bad for lenders and good for borrowers... Is this a mistake or a mistype, or have I misunderstood? Thanks!

  • Ethan Lin

    5 years agoPosted 5 years ago. Direct link to Ethan Lin's post “What's the difference in ...”

    What's the difference in fixed rates and variable rate and who does it help or hurt?

    (3 votes)

  • devcdesai

    6 years agoPosted 6 years ago. Direct link to devcdesai's post “It is repeatedly stated t...”

    It is repeatedly stated that 'deflation has devastating effects'. What exactly are the devastating effects? Can someone explain with example? If prices are lesser, people will simply have to borrow lesser, won't that be a good thing?

    (2 votes)

    • Christina

      4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to Christina's post “Well prices drop because ...”

      Well prices drop because firms are forced to sell for whatever reason, if they need to liquidate it is likely production will slow as well. possibly even lay off many resulting in high unemployment

      (2 votes)

  • SussannahY

    4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to SussannahY's post “Hi I need some help under...”

    Hi I need some help understanding why this answer is correct.

    QUESTION: "Ygritte loaned Mance $900 He agreed to repay her in full, plus 6%percent interest, after one year. When he pays off his loan, Mance discovers he is better off than he had expected to be. Which of the following best describes what must have happened to the rate of inflation?

    ANSWER: "Inflation was higher than he expected
    If the rate of inflation is higher than he expected it to be, then Mance is effectively paying Ygritte back less than he thought he would be paying her."

    I thought if inflation is higher than he expected, it means he pays MORE because a higher inflation % multiplied by his loan = a higher value in total to pay?

    (2 votes)

    • Eirian

      4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to Eirian's post “The interest may be fixed...”

      The interest may be fixed. When the inflation rose, what that 6% was worth less than expected. This doesn't mean the amount was changed--only its REAL worth was. Hope this helps!

      (1 vote)

  • Anastasiia Yarychkivska

    4 years agoPosted 4 years ago. Direct link to Anastasiia Yarychkivska's post “Is the "Interest rate" ac...”

    Is the "Interest rate" actually the anticipated rate of inflation?

    (2 votes)

    • Omar Eldesouky

      a year agoPosted a year ago. Direct link to Omar Eldesouky's post “No, although inflation is...”

      No, although inflation is often one of the factors that central banks consider when setting interest rates

      (1 vote)

  • Nathaniel234

    2 years agoPosted 2 years ago. Direct link to Nathaniel234's post “1. If all prices increase...”

    1. If all prices increased at the same rate (i.e., no relative price changes), would inflation have any redistributive effects?

    (1 vote)

    • JHW624

      9 months agoPosted 9 months ago. Direct link to JHW624's post “No, if all prices increas...”

      No, if all prices increased at the same rate without any relative price changes, inflation would not have redistributive effects. In this scenario, the increase in prices would affect everyone uniformly, and the relative purchasing power and wealth distribution among individuals or groups would remain unchanged.

      Hope that helps :)

      (2 votes)

Lesson summary: The costs of inflation (article) | Khan Academy (2024)

FAQs

How do you summarize inflation? ›

Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. Inflation is typically a broad measure, such as the overall increase in prices or the increase in the cost of living in a country.

What are the costs of inflation explain? ›

Cost of Inflation Definition

With it, your purchasing power weakens and that means in the future your dollar will be worth less and can buy less. Inflation can harm individuals by reducing the value of their money (particularly savings) and shifting the distribution of income to lenders and asset-holders.

What is the answer to inflation? ›

Governments have many tools at their disposal to control inflation. Most often, a central bank may choose to increase interest rates. This is a contractionary monetary policy that makes credit more expensive, reducing the money supply and curtailing individual and business spending.

What is the index number Khan Academy? ›

An index number is a unit-free number derived from the price level over a number of years that makes computing inflation rates easier. Inflation is the general and ongoing rise in the level of prices in an economy.

What is the simplest way to explain inflation? ›

In the simplest possible terms, inflation is what happens when prices go up and therefore the purchasing power of money goes down. A dollar is worth fundamentally less if, overall, goods and services increase in price.

What is the summary of inflation in the US? ›

Basic Info. US Inflation Rate is at 3.36%, compared to 3.48% last month and 4.93% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 3.28%. The US Inflation Rate is the percentage in which a chosen basket of goods and services purchased in the US increases in price over a year.

What are the causes and costs of inflation? ›

An increase in the price of domestic or imported inputs (such as oil or raw materials) pushes up production costs. As firms are faced with higher costs of producing each unit of output they tend to produce a lower level of output and raise the prices of their goods and services.

What is the biggest cost of inflation? ›

Rapidly rising prices are harming American families, eroding the value of their paychecks, and increasing the financial strain of buying everyday goods like groceries and gasoline. Inflation is also eroding the value of savings, making it harder for Americans to build wealth.

What do you mean by cost inflation? ›

Meaning of cost inflation in English

the increase in the price of products or services as a result of raw materials and wages costing more: Competition for resources has led to massive cost inflation. Compare.

Is inflation good or bad? ›

Inflation is measured by the consumer price index (CPI), and at low rates, it keeps the economy healthy. But when the rate of inflation rises rapidly, it can result in lower purchasing power, higher interest rates, slower economic growth and other negative economic effects.

Who benefits from inflation? ›

Inflation allows borrowers to pay lenders back with money worth less than when it was originally borrowed, which benefits borrowers. When inflation causes higher prices, the demand for credit increases, raising interest rates, which benefits lenders.

What will bring inflation down? ›

When inflation is too high, the Federal Reserve typically raises interest rates to slow the economy and bring inflation down. When inflation is too low, the Federal Reserve typically lowers interest rates to stimulate the economy and move inflation higher. Want to keep reading? Learn the basics of inflation.

What is an example of CPI? ›

For example, if the Consumer Price Index is said to start at 100 in the year 2022 and then the index increases to 103 in 2023, we can quickly calculate that prices in our economy have risen by 3 divided by 100, which is 3%.

How to index inflation? ›

A price index can be used to measure inflation in a number of ways; the most common is to look at how the index has changed over a year, which is calculated by comparing the price index for the latest month with the same month a year ago.

What is the CPI for dummies? ›

It measures the average change in prices paid by consumers over a period of time for a basket of goods and services. The index is calculated and published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is among the most common measures of inflation, indicating the health and direction of the economy.

How do you explain inflation like I'm five? ›

Inflation means everyday items cost more now than they did in the past, and as a result, the overall cost of living is going up.

What is the brief overview of inflation? ›

Inflation is an increase in the level of prices of the goods and services that households buy. It is measured as the rate of change of those prices. Typically, prices rise over time, but prices can also fall (a situation called deflation).

What is causing inflation right now? ›

As the labor market tightened during 2021 and 2022, core inflation rose as the ratio of job vacancies to unemployment increased. This ratio is used to measure wage pressures that then pass through to the prices for goods and services.

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