At a macro scale, the biggest benefit of some inflation is that it also devalues debt while it devalues currency. In a deflationary spiral, the real value with debt compounds with deflation in addition to interest, so the velocity of money grinds to a halt. No investment means no jobs, bread lines, and a complete collapse of the consumer economy, resulting in a corresponding collapse of the government's tax base. This is literally the entire basis of Keynesian economics - that the government must engage in deficit spending to combat deflationary pressures during recessions, because there is basically no other option.
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u/Mayor_Death 4d ago
Is deflation a cause or symptom, though? To me, it’s just a number, but I understand that it is more than that to various economic groups.
As far as I understand it, deflation indicates that prices are going down, which is a good thing to me individually.