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02 November 2008

Inflation menace? Not so much.

Yes, with the world economy in a bit of a crisis and central banks and political in the West worried about recession, the inflation hysteria has subsided in most places.

Like Australia:

"The clear deceleration in annual inflation since June signals quite starkly the speed at which the inflation problem of the last few years is unwinding,'' said Joshua Williamson,  a senior strategist at TD Securities in Sydney.

"The depressed domestic economy, especially for consumer demand, together with the sharp fall in commodity prices, suggests we could be in the early stages of a substantial deceleration in price pressure,'' he added.

The biggest decrease in the index came from falling prices for fruit and vegetables, holiday travel and accommodation, and household services, today's report showed. Those declines were partially offset by higher costs for financial services, books and newspapers.

Or Europe:

European inflation edged down in October, data released Friday showed, as a result helping to pave the way for the European Central Bank to deliver another hefty rate cut next week.

Or even the United States:

As dozens of countries slip deeper into financial distress, a new threat may be gathering force within the American economy — the prospect that goods will pile up waiting for buyers and prices will fall, suffocating fresh investment and worsening joblessness for months or even years.

The word for this is deflation, or declining prices, a term that gives economists chills.

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