Our perception that inflation is the normal condition is no more than a reflection of the experience of people alive today. In 1913, unlike now, a pound or a dollar would have bought the same goods as a century earlier. The longest semi-official price series we have reports a 140 fold rise in prices in the UK since 1750 — but even then all the increase up to 1938 is accounted for by inflation during the Napoleonic and first world wars. Indeed, while the price level roughly doubled during both these episodes, it fell slightly over the rest of the period.
我們對(duì)于通脹是常態(tài)的觀念，只是反映了當(dāng)今在世的人們的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。不同于現(xiàn)在，1913年時(shí)1英鎊或1美元能夠買(mǎi)到與一個(gè)世紀(jì)前同樣的商品。我們擁有的最長(zhǎng)的半官方價(jià)格序列顯示，自1750年以來(lái)英國(guó)物價(jià)上漲了140倍，但即便如此，截至1938年的所有上漲均可歸因于拿破侖戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)以及第一次世界大戰(zhàn)期間的通脹。的確，盡管物價(jià)水平在這兩次戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間大致都翻了一番，但在其他時(shí)期略有下降。