Lessons from Experiences with High Inflation

In economies where price control has been the rule, the most serious concern may be recognition of the inflation problem. Beyond the initial correction of subsidies there is the broader issue of the risk of a serious inflation. This article looks at the problem of high inflation in developing countries in Europe and Latin America and draws lessons from historical experience. It analyzes the dynamics of the interaction among deficit finance, institutional innovation in financial markets, dollarization, and the s'hortening of wage contracts in high-inflation situations. When stabilization is undertaken, there is neither immediate, spontaneous resumption of longer adjustment periods for wages and prices nor instant increase of real money demand to noninflationary levels. Incomes policy-freezing exchange rates, wages, and prices-is advocated as an effective supplement to the inevitable budget cut to make up for institutional inertia and facilitate the start of the stabilization process.