The Inflation Muddle, 1915 to June 1917

Discussion of what contemporaries called inflation was partially separate from wrangling over the high cost of living. Much of it focused on something less than what was causing a general rise in prices throughout the economy. Some participants thought broadly of an expanding money supply, but others fretted about more narrowly defined inflation—undue expansion of paper currency or issuance of currency not fully backed by gold reserves. Varying concepts of inflation influenced estimates of whether it was occurring, and if so, how severe it was. However defined, inflation generally served as a term of opprobrium.