Biflation

Biflation (sometimes mixflation) is a state of the economy in which both inflation and deflation of the prices of different types of assets occur simultaneously.^[1] The term was first introduced by Dr. F. Osborne Brown, a senior financial analyst for the Phoenix Investment Group.^[2] During biflation, there is a rise in the prices of commodity/earnings-based assets (inflation) and a simultaneous fall in the price of debt-based assets (deflation).^[3]

Reasons

The prices of all assets depend on the demand for them and the volume of money in circulation to buy them.

• On the one hand, there is an over-abundance of money injected into the economy by central banks. Since most essential commodity-based assets (food, energy, clothing) remain in high demand, their prices rise due to the increased volume of money chasing them. The increasing costs of purchasing these essential assets are the price-inflationary arm of biflation.
• On the other hand, there is increasing unemployment and decreasing purchasing power. As a result, more money is used to buy essential items and less is available to buy non-essential items. Assets such as large houses and expensive cars are less in demand. As a result, their prices fall: this is the price-deflationary arm of biflation.^[4]

See also

• Agflation
• Hyperinflation
• Recession
• Stagflation

References

1. Urban Survival Inside Report #62, December 29, 2002
2. Dallas Economic Summit, 2003. "Inflation or Deflation. Why Choose?"
3. Biflation or Stagflation? It Could Be Both
4. Malliaris, A. G. (2006). "US inflation and commodity prices: Analytical and empirical issues". Journal of Macroeconomics 28 (1): 267–271. doi:10.1016/j.jmacro.2005.10.020.

External links

• World Economic Forum
• Urban Survival
• Deciphering a Chinese Puzzle
• China Securities Journal
• Monetary Theory of Inflation