The Inflation of Everything

Inflation is a term most often employed to describe prices.  A too-high inflation rate results in a devalued currency. But what about the inflation of other things in our world? The Economist reports on this trend:

Price inflation remains relatively subdued in the rich world, even though central banks are busily printing money. But other types of inflation are rampant. This “panflation” needs to be recognised for the plague it has become.

Take the grossly underreported problem of “size inflation”, where clothes of any particular labelled size have steadily expanded over time. Estimates by The Economist suggest that the average British size 14 pair of women’s trousers is now more than four inches wider at the waist than it was in the 1970s. In other words, today’s size 14 is really what used to be labelled a size 18; a size 10 is really a size 14.

The article also describes the inflation of travel goods (hotel rooms and plane tickets), grades, and job titles. When everything from grades to clothing sizes are inflated in the name of avoiding harsh realities, information is compromised. “Inflation of all kinds devalues everything it infects,” explains The Economist. “It obscures information and so distorts behavior.”