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# What Is Inflation, and Why Should I Care?

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YHpmTKrb.m3u8" -->
## Video: What Is Inflation, and Why Should I Care?

[Watch (HLS stream): What Is Inflation, and Why Should I Care?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YHpmTKrb.m3u8) (1:46)

![What Is Inflation, and Why Should I Care?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YHpmTKrb/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2016-06-29. Taylor Tepper of MONEY explains how inflation works, and why it is neither good nor bad._


---

Jul 27, 2023 8:20 PM UTC

---

## More From This Series

[All Videos](https://time.com/video/)

[What You Need to Know About the Inflation Reduction Act](/video/d9k7bBgU/)

### What You Need to Know About the Inflation Reduction Act

[How Does Inflation Work?](/video/qhFFtWyn/)

### How Does Inflation Work?

[Money 101: Inflation Explained](/video/6O8NljRP/)

### Money 101: Inflation Explained

---


## Transcript

Today on Dumb Money, what's inflation and why should I care? I'm here to answer the money questions you think are too silly, stupid, or scary to ask. I'm Taylor Tepper and this Dumb Money. You know when old people tell you things cost a lot less in their day? That's inflation. Inflation is the rate at which prices increase. For example, if the inflation rate is 2 %, that means that prices on average are rising 2 % annually. The same bag of groceries that cost you a hundred bucks a year ago would earn you about $ 102 today. There are lots of reasons to care about inflation. Inflation has been very low for most of the recovery since the great recession, and that's because the economy hasn't grown too quickly.

And one of the things that's lagging is wages. More inflation result in higher paychecks, which would make everyone really happy. The Federal Reserve uses interest rates to try and keep inflation at a moderate level, usually in the low single digits. And right now the fed is trying to aim for an inflation rate of about 2 %. Too much inflation is really bad. Ask your parents about the late 1970's. When inflation jumps super fast your salary has a hard time keeping up with the rising cost of everything else. Deflation when prices drop year after year might sound really great But deflation is actually really, really, really, really bad.

If prices keep falling people stop buying stuff because they think they'll get it more cheaply later on. And when everyone stops buying, that wrecks the economy. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] So like most things, inflation is one of those economic phenomenons. They're neither entirely good, nor entirely bad, you want to be just right. [ BLANK_AUDIO ]

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