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Economicelectsofpricestability–comparativeanalysisconclusions
NNSsupporterstheriskofrelativepricedistortionbyinflationprocessesisbig
enoughtooptformaintainingtheinflationrateatapositivelevelclosetozero.
Ten,thenaveragediscrepancy”assumesthelowestvaluesandthustheaverage
pricesońeredbyenterprisesapproachtheirmarginalcosts.
Itisdifculttodeterminetowhatextenteconomicentitieswhenmakingtheir
decisionsarereallyguidedbyrelativepricesandtowhatextent-bycurrentpric-
es.Indeed,strongfluctuationsofgeneralpricescansignificantlymakethenread-
ing”ofrelativepricesdifcultandthusmaketherationaleconomicchoicesbased
oncost-and-benefitanalysisofalternativeallocationoftheresourcesoflabour,
capitalandotherfactorsofproductionimpossible.Itisstillanopenquestionhow
highinflationmustbetocauseclearweakeningoftherelativepriceinformation
functionandhencedeteriorationofthefreemarketmechanismefciencyand
consequentlydeteriorationofeconomicgrowthprospects.Itseemsthatcertainly
suchasituationcanhappenintheconditionsofhyperinflationorgallopinginfla-
tion(atarateofseveralhundredpercentperyear);yet,itisveryunlikelyinthe
situationofcreeping(1-2percentperyear),nrolling”(3-5percentperyear),or
moderateinflationachievingthevaluesbelow10percentperyear.Tisisproved
bye.g.empiricalresearchcarriedoutbyKingandWolman
21
,indicatingarather
limitedimpactofinflationgrowthfromzeroto10percentonthenaveragedis-
crepancy”(increasefrom1.10to1.1044),relativepricesandproduction,although,
astheyclaim,thelatterwouldachievethevalueslowerby0.4percent,whichis
ameasureofsocialcostsofhigherinflation.
Doubtsregardingthedisturbingeńectofmoderateinflationonentrepreneurs’
perceptionofrelativepricesandthemarketmechanismefciencyappearmainly
inthecontextofmodernefcientsystemsofsafeguardsagainstthepriceriserisk
(appropriatelyformulatedtradeagreements,bankdepositsandcreditswithin-
terestdependingonchangesininflationindicators,currencytransactionsofthe
forwardtype,etc.)whichfunctioninmoderneconomies.Withcurrentpossibilities
ofinformationtransmittingandprocessing,ubiquitouscomputerizationandac-
cesstotheinternet,itisdifculttobelievethatslightpricemovementscanbecome
amajorthreatforstabilityandeńectivenessoftherealeconomicsectorfunction-
ing.Tesedoubtsarealsoconfirmedbyobservationsofpricechangesinthemost
dynamicallydevelopingeconomiesoftheworld(Table1).Inthesecountriesinfla-
tionindicatorsofenapproach10percent(andperiodicallytheyevenexceedthis
21
R.G.King,andA.L.Wolman.InfationTargetinginaSt.LouisModelofthe21stCentury.FederalRe-
serveBankofSt.LouisReview,Vol.78,No.3l1996,pp.83-107,quotedafer:M.Goodfriend,R.G.King.
meNewNeoclassicalSynthesis…,op.cit.
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