Venezuela's Hyperinflation, 24 Months and Counting

Venezuela is suffering from the ravages of hyperinflation. Alas, the word “hyperinflation” is thrown around carelessly and misused frequently in the financial press. Indeed, the debasement of language in the popular press has gone to such lengths that the word “hyperinflation” has almost lost its meaning. So, just what is the definition of this oft-misused word? The convention adopted in the scientific literature is to classify an inflation as a hyperinflation if the monthly inflation rate exceeds 50%. This definition was adopted in 1956, after Phillip Cagan published his seminal analysis of hyperinflation, which appeared in a book, edited by Milton Friedman, Studies in the Quantity Theory of Money. More…