Tyler Cowen, Columnist

A Little Inflation Is Good for the Conservative Cause

Not only do higher prices reduce the relative value of government debt, they may also make the economy more dynamic. 

Not as bad as it’s made out to be.

Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images North America
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For conservatives, current high rates of inflation should not be too upsetting — and not because they might help Republican candidates in the next election. Rather, there are intrinsic reasons that higher inflation, at least for a while, might not be as bad as it looks.

I myself am not happy about an inflation rate of 4% to 5%, which seems embedded in the economy right now. Yet on reflection I am less concerned than I was initially.