Debt is a social and ideological construct, not a simple economic fact.
Noam ChomskyRead
Thirty years ago, many economists argued that inflation was a kind of minor inconvenience and that the cost of reducing inflation was too high a price to pay. No one would make those arguments today.
Interpretation
The perception of inflation has changed significantly over time, with greater awareness of its impacts.
Martin Feldstein's quote emphasizes the evolution of economic thought regarding inflation. Previously considered a minor issue, inflation is now recognized as a serious economic concern, illustrating how the understanding and prioritization of economic factors can shift dramatically in response to real-world consequences.
In practice
During a financial seminar discussing current economic policies.
Debt is a social and ideological construct, not a simple economic fact.
Mere inflation-that is, the mere issuance of more money, with the consequence of higher wages and prices-may look like the creation of more demand. But in terms of the actual production and exchange of real things it is not.
One way to have broader access to wealth is to reduce the tax on the large group and increase the tax on the very top so concentration of wealth doesn't get to extreme levels.
A clear lesson of history is that a 'sine qua non' for sustained economic recovery following a financial crisis is a thoroughgoing repair of the financial system.
Soon we saw that money going to women brought much more benefit to the family than money going to the men. So we changed our policy and gave a high priority to women. As a result, now 96% of our four million borrowers in Grameen Bank are women.
Inflation is probably the most important single factor in that vicious circle wherein one kind of government action makes more and more government control necessary. For this reason all those who wish to stop the drift toward increasing government control should concentrate their effort on monetary policy.
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