In what ways can inflation help?

My eggs are cheaper than they were roughly 2 weeks ago. $1.50for 18eggs.

If companies have to reduce prices because of lack of demand, they won't be staying in business very long. Deflation is much more dangerous than inflation. Interest rates can't be lowered indefinitely. But rates can be raised to whatever level needed to at least slow inflation.

Look at Japan. They have been fighting deflation for two decades and have had negative rates for quite a while now. They are unable to break the deflationary spiral.

Thank you, I think I am following that. Is another way to say it that deflation affects the perceived value of a particular item and inflation affects the perceived value of a currency?

I'd have to think about that but off the top of my head the answer would be yes,

Clearly if the currency is inflated, it loses buying power. And if products are in short supply the demand SHOUD be great .......but with fewer people working and spending, there will be fewer dollars chasing all products. That will cause demand to drop and prices along with it. Thus.deflation. Companies can't grow if they can't raise prices.

I think we may see inflation in some items in the short run of this thing. But if it continues, we will see deflation in the long run.

The best thing for the economy is to get this virus under control ASAP . We can probably overcome the economic damage done so far but the longer it goes on, the worse it's going to be.

Corporate debt is at astronomical levels never seen before. Small companies are going to default on those debts and that will have a cascade effect through the banking sector. It's a pretty gloomy outlook IMO

A bunch of the financial stuff is way over my head, that assessment helps me understand what I am seeing here.

I run a small, one man landscaping company. I am in pretty good shape to survive this .I try to run as lean and mean as possible. Nonetheless, for only the 2nd time in 20 years I took out a small loan last year to buy a used excavator. The market was white hot. Last year, I could not find a price ceiling. Many of my competitors did the same debt financed equipment purchasing to an even greater extent due to an industry labor shortage. We now have Do Not Work orders on large segments of my industry. If this is all lifted before the season gets fully underway, I think most will be fine. If this stretches til June, I will probably have less competition, but fewer potential customers.

We went into this with a very strong economy. I suppose time will tell if that helps or hurts. On the bright side, I may be able to buy cheap equipment if I can find the cash.

Price will rise regardless of what worker's make. That's the Fed devauling the dollar. There target inflation rate is 3% if you want to believe that. Don't buy it if you don't want to pay them $15 per hour.

One would think there has to be a silver lining somewhere !

That is not inflation! They call that price gouging!!!

Fast food has been at those prices for a long time. It the same price to eat at a restaurant.

The hardware store had local eggs $2.89 per dozen. I don't go to the grocery store.

Deflation is only bad when currency is backed by debt.

The helicopters are loading up to prevent, they will blame it on the virus but the position we are in had Been set in motion for a long time.

Went to the store 3.5 miles away from me , just looking around , a carton of 18 eggs was $5.99. I bought a 1.88 pound pack of hamburger , I about passed out , it was $9.01.

That's just inflation, but not gouging.