What is Hyperinflation ?

More cash printed does not make the US better off. It actually worsens our situation.  Printing more money or "Quantitative Easing" fuels an inflationary spiral.

          

    I did not enjoy the college course I took in Economics.  In fact, I wrote an entire paper on how Economics is "soft and squishy science" as it attempts to use scientific principles to explain and predict human behaviors, much as Sociology does.   My  Phd economics professor, who was from Ireland, probably didn't like me much, but he did not let my views on his life's work adversely impact my grade.
             Economics is still hounding me, all these years later, and I still disagree with some of the view of economists in general.
                Hyperinflation is what occurs when a government prints additional money in fairly large amounts.  Basically, more paper chases the same amount of goods and services, and therefore everything from oranges to a new well installation will cost more paper, as a result.  Hyperinflation is not peculiar to the world in the present.  There are many times when hyperinflation has occurred. Sometimes it has occurred because excess money was printed. Sometimes political instability or mismanagement created hyperinflation. Sometimes war has generated hyperinflation.

The chart which follows deals with percentage of inflation per month, the years this occurred, and the nation in which it occurred.   These are good examples, but are certainly NOT an inclusive listing.

These are example of hyperinflation:

COUNTRY	YEAR(S)	HIGHEST INFLATION PER MONTH %
FRANCE	1789-96	143.26
GERMANY	1920-23	29,525.71
AUSTRIA	1921-22	124.27
POLAND	1921-1924	187.54
SOVIET UNION	1922-24	278.72
HUNGARY	1923-24	82.17
GREECE	1942-45	11,288.00
HUNGARY	1945-46	1,295,000,000,000,000,000.00
TAIWAN	1945-49	398.73
CHINA	1947-49	4,208.73
BOLIVIA	1984-86	120.39
NICARAGUA	1986-89	126.62
PERU	1988-90	114.12
ARGENTINA	1989-90	196.60
POLAND	1989-90	77.30
BRAZIL	1989-93	84.32
YUGOSLAVIA	1990	58.82
AZERBAIJAN	1991-94	118.09
CONGO	1991-94	225.00
KRYGYZSTAN	1992	157.00
SERBIA	1992-94	309,000,000.00
UKRAINE	1992-94	249.00
GEORGIA	1992-94	196.72
ARMENIA	1992-94	438.04
TURKMENISTAN	1993-96	62.50
BELARUS	1994	53.40
KAZAKHSTAN	1994	57.00
TAJIKISTAN	1995	78.10
BULGARIA	1997	242.70
ZIMBABWE	1997	2,600.20

SOURCE : Monetary Regimes and Inflation:History,Economics and Political Relationships by Peter Bernbolz Northampton,Mas:Edward Edgar Publishing 2003


              This is important because we must accept, as Americans, and then as citizens of the world, that hyperinflation, which has destroyed many an economy, is coming for ours as well.  We must accept that this is a problem, in order to try to goad our representatives into behaving more responsibly.   If this fails, then we need to have reasonable and effective plans for survival for our own families.through such times.

              I am not an economist, and I don't even play one on the radio, however, it is my opinion that without sweeping course correction, which I do not believe will be forthcoming, that the US is headed for a hyperinflationary spiral.   More posts on this are to come.