I know what inflation is, but I'm trying to get you to understand WHERE IT COMES FROM. It's one thing to know the signs and symptoms of an eating disorder, but an entirely different beast to know where they originate. I know "printing more money = inflation", but do you know why? If the only answer you can think of is "it just is" then you need to stop pretending like you know what you're talking about. If your answer is "its the value people place on it" then its precisely as I said. Value is subjective. If it's capable of changing in one direction its capable of going in the other. You need to ask yourself where the value comes from. It isn't just in how much money is out there, but where it flows. Everyone can have a million dollars tomorrow, but hypothesize on what would happen if everyone were to take that money and shove it somewhere to be forgotten. Would there still be inflation? Why? Where would it come from beyond this equation everyone knows on "printing money = inflation"? Wheres the preceeding line of it?

I'm also talking about the other side of inflation, the one where businesses freak the hell out about people having more money. If everyone were to get $1,000,000 tomorrow, what real requirement would businesses have to increase their prices? What would they be reacting to in relation to their expenses and profits? Or would they just be raising their prices "because people have money now"? Where does the value of money come from but what value people place on it? It comes from when you look at a product and have to think to yourself "how much would I pay for this?" Produce is the price it is because people look at the price and say "I'll pay that" and buy it, which lets the store know they can get away with charging that price, but why do you think Walmart is so hilariously successful? It's because you can either get an apple for $1 at "Freu Freu fruit emporium" or go to Walmart and pay a nickle.

The sort of inflation you're talking about has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. The kind of inflation I'm talking about is the same sort of inflation which causes housing markets to fluctuate. A good housing market is one where people look at a house and are willing to pay you more than you originally bought the property. A bad housing market is one where people look at the house you paid $500,000 for and think "fuck that!" and walk away. In fact, the housing market is about as close to a free market economy as you can get in this country because of that.

The thing about everyone getting that much money depends on how they got it. If they all got paid by the upper class rich people then things would balance out. If that money was printed new, then that causes inflation. If everyone magically gained $1,000,000 then the value of a dollar would be less than a penny. That's what inflation is. The more you have of something means it is less valuable. Think about it like this, you have this sweet one of a kind collectors edition of <insert favorite book/game/movie>. That thing is now very valuable. A few weeks later and more of them are made and are alike in every single way. It's not worth so much anymore.

That type of inflation is not relevant to anything here(no I'm not talking about the house example). This is a simple money inflation. There is now so much money that the $1 bill is now worth much less. Stores raise prices. It doesn't matter if it's out of necessity or greed. Prices will rise. Walmart isn't an "everything" store. It has a lot, but not everything. When every store raises it's prices to accommodate inflation, Walmart will too. Even if Walmart has cheaper prices, it still adapts to inflation.

On a side note, the economy would likely collapse if everyone just got a million dollars. Who would work anymore? What incentive would there be? That's a whole other issue though.

I know what inflation is, but I'm trying to get you to understand WHERE IT COMES FROM. It's one thing to know the signs and symptoms of an eating disorder, but an entirely different beast to know where they originate. I know "printing more money = inflation", but do you know why? If the only answer you can think of is "it just is" then you need to stop pretending like you know what you're talking about. If your answer is "its the value people place on it" then its precisely as I said. Value is subjective. If it's capable of changing in one direction its capable of going in the other. You need to ask yourself where the value comes from. It isn't just in how much money is out there, but where it flows. Everyone can have a million dollars tomorrow, but hypothesize on what would happen if everyone were to take that money and shove it somewhere to be forgotten. Would there still be inflation? Why? Where would it come from beyond this equation everyone knows on "printing money = inflation"? Wheres the preceeding line of it?

I knew what you meant. I'm just dicking around.