“Some ideas are so stupid that only intellectuals believe them.” - George Orwell
I was talking to a middle-aged Ivy League MBA the other day. Works for a hedge fund and we were discussing the economy. I mentioned inflation risk and he smiled at me, pitying my simple ignorance and said, “a little inflation is good” and I thought of you.
Some professor taught him that you cannot have growth without inflation. Some professor convinced by some other sophist that you cannot have hard currency. And so the chain begins. Then he and his entire class and all the classes before and since have believed that lie.
If the opportunity arises, you might pose to him the question "Since in the ordinary course of progress people are continuously coming up with better, more efficient ways of doing things, why should we not consider inflation to be something created by banks and governments; otherwise costs would be continuously decreasing due to increased productivity?".