Inflation
"How Johnny Harris & the Media Lie about Inflation" by Bes D. Marx. |
Inflation is the phenomenon which occurs predominantly under capitalism when the means of exchange (money) increases in quantity over produced commodities due to price increase resulting from market price fluctuations governed by production value and supply and demand factor. This later leads to the depreciation of money's value, leading to more printing of money, spiraling into a recession.
Inflation is to the benefit of the capitalist class, while greatly harming the workers in the form of raising the cost of living dramatically, reducing the value of wages, and lowering the standards of life.[1]
Characteristics
Exploitative nature
Inflation possesses an exploitative nature. Payment for commodities of increased prices is done from the pockets of proletarians who almost never receive a fair raise according to inflation rates. This leads to the workers being paid less, since the value of their money has decreased without a fair raise on wages, while also leads to them paying more of what they make, eventually causing their bankruptcy.
Artificial inflation
This effect of inflation which increases profits of the capitalist leads to the ruling class enforcing inflation through artificial scarcity.
See also
References
- ↑ Political Economy, p. 155, "Gold and Paper Money" (1954). Academy of Sciences of the USSR.
"An extraordinarily large issue of paper money, leading to its depreciation and used by the ruling classes for the purpose of transferring the burden of State expenditure on to the backs of the working masses and increasing their exploitation; is called inflation. Inflation, which gives rise to an increase in the cost of goods, bears heaviest upon the working people, because the wages and salaries of the workers lag behind the rise in prices. Capitalists and landlords benefit from inflation, owing above all to the fall in the real wages of industrial and agricultural workers. Inflation benefits those capitalists who export their commodities. As a result of the fall in real wages and the reduction thereby of the costs of production of commodities it becomes possible for them to compete successfully with foreign capitalists and landlords and increase the sale of their commodities."