Pablo's Research

Here's some research on inflation rates throughout history, for consideration in what kind of economic conditions help societies engage in long-term projects, which I assume are some of the fruits of social health.  I'm interested if the basic relationship shows up historically, and also in estimating what actual inflation rates tend to work well. In summary, I find while a society may grow with cash half-lives from 30yr down to a couple years, that lower rates are destructive: half-lives shorter than a year or two coincide with historical examples of market collapse in the short term, or social collapse if carried on.  In contrast, a cash half-life significantly greater than 30-40 years coincides with important periods of flourishing. I find it more intuitive to work in terms of cash half-life than inflation rate.  To convert from a 2% rate, or InflationRate=0.02 (which the US Fed targets but never delivers) to a half-life, means to find how long it takes 2% inflation to erode