Defining Inflation

According to Murray Rothbard and Ludwig von Mises, inflation is defined as the increase of the money supply out of “thin air.” Following this definition, one can ascertain that increases in money supply set economic impoverishment in motion by creating an exchange of nothing for something, the so-called counterfeit effect.

Contrary to popular thinking, inflation is not about increases in the prices of goods and services but about increases in money supply. Following this definition, we can establish that the key damage caused by inflation is economic impoverishment through the exchange of nothing for something. What matters as far as inflation is concerned is not the correlation between money supply and the prices of goods and service but increases in money supply.