[janmarsal]

I just want a word for what I think inflation means. Like when zimbabwe printed a huge amount of money and that completely broke their currency. That's what I think when I hear the term inflation, and the metaphor of inflating a currency makes sense. You blow some air or whatever into the mix of metal so that you can mint more coins with the same amount of metal. As a consequence the value of an individual coin goes down because it doesn't have as much metal in it as the old coins. A fiat currency based on trust that gets inflated by the increase of money supply is not as concrete but the effect is the same.

So when I hear "food inflation" I immediately thing of wheat breads. You rise the breads more so you can make more breads with the same amount of wheat, but of course as a consequence the value of an individual bread should go down over time because the wheat content is lower. But instead, when the media talks about "food inflation" it means the price of bread is going up and not down.

I used to think that "inflation" is about reducing the value of something but apparently it means the complete opposite. So I guess I need a new word for that. What would that be? Debasement? Should hyperinflation that is obviously caused by the increase of money supply be renamed as hyperdebasement too? Like what happened in Zimbabwe. Or are hyperinflation and inflation completely unrelated phenomenons now?