Are we faced with inflation or deflation? It seems to depend on which analyst you read and on which day of the week. Complaints about a new inflation due to, say, government money creation or budget deficits come hot on the heels of moans that deflation is still a menace. Looking at actual numbers adds to the confusion. On the UK official consumer price index, year-on-year inflation was still 2.3 per cent this April, slightly above the government's 2 per cent target. On the traditional and more comprehensive retail prices index, it was -1.2 per cent.
我們面臨的是通脹還是通縮?這似乎取決于你看的是哪位分析師的報告,以及是哪一天提出的這個問題。不久前還在哀嘆通縮威脅依然存在的人們,如今又對政府印鈔或預算赤字將引發新一輪通脹怨聲載道。現實中的數據則令人更加困惑。根據官方的消費價格指數(CPI),英國今年4月份物價仍同比上漲了2.3%,略高于政府2%的通脹目標。而根據傳統的、覆蓋范圍更廣的零售價格指數(RPI),物價下跌了1.2%。