The Current Inflation: Causation and Mechanics

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that many of the attempts at explaining the generation of recent price increases reported in the contemporary literature are deficient in that they fail to distinguish between what we may call the mechanics of the inflation process and the underlying causes of the inflation. The point here is that, whereas the mechanical factors may condition the speed, duration, etc. of the inflation once it has begun, they do not have any causative power in their own right. In order to explain the inflation process adequately the initial causal factors themselves have to be isolated. These are more fundamental and incorporate not only economic factors but the whole complex of human behaviour including frustration, expectations, etc.. Since the cure for any disease depends upon a correct diagnosis, it is believed that an illdesigned anti‐inflation package that does not recognise the importance of such underlying causes will not correct the phenomenon and redress the malaise which is currently affecting the world's currencies.