通货膨胀

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通货膨胀(inflation)

经济学名词，指价格上升的程度。通货膨胀通常被认为是一般物价水准的过度上涨。解释通货膨胀的理论有四种。货币数量学说是第一种也是最古老的一种，18世纪大卫.休姆提出，认为物价提高货币供应亦跟着提高。20世纪中期弗里德曼改进了数量学说，他认为根据预估的经济成长速度，以相同的速度定期增加货币供给，可以达到稳定物价的目的。第二种基本学说是凯因斯的所得决定论，认为当对财货和劳务的需求大过供应时便会发生通货膨胀。要求政府以调整支出和税收的水准，提高或降低利率来控制通货膨胀。第三种理论是成本推动论。价格－工资螺旋这种现象可能造成通货膨胀，劳动者要求提高工资使得雇主提高价格以反映更高的成本，因此又种下下次要求提高工资的种子。第四种基本学说是经济结构论，它强调经济结构的失调，当开发中国家的进口趋势较出口快速时，会使得该国通货的国际兑换价值遭到持续下跌的压力，这种贬值在国内市场的反映是物价持续上涨。亦请参阅deflation、price index。

English version：

inflation

In economics, increases in the level of prices. Inflation is generally thought of as an inordinate rise in the general level of prices. Four theories are commonly used to explain inflation. The first and oldest, the quantity theory, promoted in the 18th century by David Hume, assumes that prices will rise as the supply of money increases. Milton Friedman refined the quantity theory in the mid-20th century, arguing that the prescription for stable prices is to increase the money supply at a rate equal to that at which the economy is expanding. A second approach is John Maynard Keynes's theory of income determination, which assumes that inflation occurs when the demand for goods and services is greater than the supply. It calls for the government to control inflation by adjusting levels of spending and taxation and by raising or lowering interest rates. A third approach is the cost-push theory. It traces inflation to a phenomenon known as the price-wage spiral, in which workers' demands for wage increases lead employers to increase prices to reflect their higher costs, thereby sowing the seeds of a further round of wage demands. A fourth approach is the structural theory, which emphasizes structural maladjustments in the economy, as when in developing countries imports tend to increase faster than exports, pushing down the international value of the developing country's currency and causing prices to rise internally. See also deflation, price index.

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