Introduction

About the lecture

In this module, we look at the definition of inflation and the terminology that economists use to describe inflation. In particular, we will focus on: (i) how the price level is defined as a weighted average of a series of individual prices for specific goods and services; (ii) what the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is; (iii) what the Retail Price Index (RPI) is; (iv) a brief overview of how inflation has varied in the UK in the last 50 years; and (v) definitions of some more key terms, including disinflation, deflation and hyperinflation.

About the lecturer

Chris Bowdler is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford. He specialises in applied macroeconomics, macroeconomic policy issues, unconventional monetary policy and debt management strategies. He has published widely on these subjects, including 'US Monetary Policy and Global Banking Flows' (Journal of International Money and Finance, 2020) and ' International Spillovers from US Monetary Policy: Evidence from Asian Bank-Level Data' (Journal of International Money and Finance, 2022)