What Is Stagflation? Understanding Economic Challenges- Beyond Borders

Post Author

The Remitly editorial team is a global group of writers and editors who are passionate about helping people thrive across borders.

Key Highlights

Here are the key takeaways from our discussion on stagflation:

Stagflation is a harmful economic condition marked by the combination of high inflation, stagnant economic growth, and high unemployment.
The primary causes of stagflation are major supply shocks, like a sudden jump in oil prices, and poor economic policies from a government or central bank.
This phenomenon hurts your finances by reducing your purchasing power and can lead to lower investment returns and higher interest rates.
The Federal Reserve finds stagflation particularly challenging because the monetary policy tools used to fight rising prices can worsen unemployment.
The United States experienced a significant period of stagflation from the 1970s through the early 1980s.
Disruptions in global supply chains can also contribute to the conditions that create stagflation.

Understanding Stagflation

Have you ever heard the term “stagflation” and wondered what it means for your wallet? It’s an unusual and painful economic situation that combines the worst of two worlds: stagnant economic growth and high inflation. The name itself is a blend of “stagnation” and “inflation,” pointing to this unique challenge.

Normally, when an economy slows down, prices tend to fall. But during stagflation, rising prices persist even as the economy falters and the unemployment rate climbs. This creates a difficult environment for consumers, businesses, and policymakers alike. We will explore the characteristics of stagflation, what causes it, and how it differs from other economic events.

Defining Stagflation in Simple Terms

Stagflation is an economic condition where you see three things happening at once: high inflation, slow or zero economic growth, and high unemployment. Think of it as a triple threat to the economy’s health. Your money buys less than it used to because of inflation, but the economy isn’t creating new jobs or wealth to help you keep up.

This situation is particularly troubling because the usual fixes for a struggling economy don’t work well. Policies designed to boost economic growth can make inflation worse, while actions taken to control high inflation can increase unemployment. It traps an economy in a difficult cycle.

A period of stagflation means households feel squeezed from all sides. The cost of living goes up, but job security and wage growth go down. It’s a frustrating scenario where your financial progress feels stuck in neutral, or even in reverse, while everyday expenses become more burdensome.

Origin and Etymology of the Term

The word “stagflation” might sound like modern financial jargon, but it has been around for decades. The term stagflation was first used in the 1960s. It’s a portmanteau, which is a word created by blending the sounds and meanings of two other words.

Specifically, British politician Iain Macleod coined the term in a 1965 speech to Parliament. He combined “stagnation” and “inflation” to describe the unique and troubling economic conditions the United Kingdom was facing at the time. He spoke of a “stagflation situation” to highlight the unusual mix of a stagnant economy and rising prices.

Before this, most economists believed that high inflation and high unemployment couldn’t happen at the same time. Macleod’s new word perfectly captured this contradictory and challenging state of economic stagnation, giving a name to a phenomenon that would become a major concern for Western economies in the following decade.

Key Characteristics of Stagflation

To identify stagflation, economists look for a specific and toxic combination of indicators. It’s not just one negative trend but several happening simultaneously. This rare event stands out from other, more common economic cycles.

The core of stagflation can be broken down into three main characteristics. Each one on its own is a problem, but together they create a much more severe challenge for an economy.

These key signs are:

High Inflation: This means there is a rapid increase in the general level of prices for goods and services, so your money doesn’t go as far.
Stagnant Economic Growth: The economy slows down significantly or stops growing altogether. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is flat or even negative.
High Unemployment: As the economy falters, businesses stop hiring and may lay off workers, leading to a rising or persistently high unemployment rate.

Main Causes of Stagflation

Stagflation doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. Economists generally point to two main culprits that can trigger this difficult economic state: a major supply shock or poor economic policies. Sometimes, these factors can even occur together, making the situation worse.

A supply shock is a sudden event that drastically increases costs for businesses, while flawed fiscal policy or monetary policy can disrupt the balance between growth and inflation. Understanding these root causes is the first step in figuring out how to address them. Let’s examine the main causes of stagflation in more detail.

Supply Shocks and Disruptions

One of the most significant causes of stagflation is a negative supply shock. This happens when there is a sudden decrease in the supply of an essential commodity or service, which causes prices to skyrocket. When production costs rise for nearly all businesses, it can slow the entire economy.

The most famous example is the oil crisis of the 1970s. An embargo led to a dramatic increase in oil prices, making it more expensive for companies to produce and transport goods. Businesses passed these higher costs on to consumers through higher prices and to workers through layoffs, fueling both inflation and unemployment.

Modern economies can face similar vulnerabilities. Any event that severely disrupts global supply chains can act as a supply shock. These events might include:

A sudden spike in commodity prices for energy or food.
Major disruptions in global shipping and logistics.
Geopolitical conflicts that restrict trade and resource availability.
An oil price shock that raises costs across all industries.

Monetary Policy Factors

Decisions made by a nation’s central bank can also lay the groundwork for stagflation. Poorly managed monetary policy is a key factor. For example, if a central bank allows the money supply to grow too quickly, it can create an environment where there is too much money chasing too few goods, leading to higher inflation.

This often happens when a central bank, like the Federal Reserve in the United States, keeps the interest rate too low for an extended period. Low borrowing costs can stimulate spending and create a boom, but if the economy is already running near its full capacity, this extra demand can simply drive prices up without creating real growth.

If this policy isn’t corrected, it can contribute to an inflationary spiral. Businesses and workers start to expect continued price increases, leading to demands for higher wages, which in turn pushes prices up further. This cycle of higher inflation can persist even as economic growth stalls, a classic recipe for stagflation. Interest rate hikes are a common tool to combat this.

Structural Issues within the Economy

Beyond sudden shocks and monetary missteps, long-term structural issues within an economy can also foster stagflation. Poor economic policies enacted by governments can stifle productivity and increase business costs, leading to economic stagnation even as prices climb.

For instance, government policies that heavily regulate industries can increase production costs for businesses. These higher costs are often passed on to consumers. Similarly, sharp increases in taxes on businesses can discourage investment and hiring, slowing down economic activity.

These structural problems create a less efficient and less resilient economy. When a supply shock or inflationary pressure hits, an economy hampered by these issues is more likely to fall into stagflation. The combination of restrictive policies and rising costs can trap an economy in a state of low growth and high inflation.

How Stagflation Differs from Other Economic Phenomena

It’s easy to confuse stagflation with other economic terms like inflation or recession, but it’s a distinct phenomenon. While it shares characteristics with both, stagflation is a unique and particularly difficult combination. A recession involves economic decline, while inflation refers to rising prices, but stagflation is when you get both at the same time.

This simultaneous occurrence of economic stagnation and high inflation is what makes stagflation so problematic for policymakers and households. To better understand this, it is helpful to directly compare stagflation to both inflation and recession.

Stagflation vs. Inflation

While inflation is a key ingredient of stagflation, the two are not the same. Inflation is simply the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services is rising, which reduces the purchasing power of currency. High inflation can even occur in a rapidly growing economy.

Stagflation, on the other hand, is a much rarer and more damaging scenario. It occurs when high inflation is paired with a stagnant economy and a high unemployment rate. During a period of “normal” inflation, economic growth and job creation might be strong, helping wages keep up with rising consumer prices.

In a stagflationary environment, you get the pain of rising prices without any of the benefits of a strong economy. Price stability is lost, but there is no corresponding economic expansion to offset the higher cost of living.

Feature	Inflation	Stagflation
Economic Growth	Can be low, moderate, or high.	Low, stagnant, or negative.
Prices	Rising.	Rising, often rapidly.
Unemployment	Can be low or high.	Persistently high.
Overall Condition	Rising cost of living.	Rising cost of living combined with job scarcity and a weak economy.

Stagflation vs. Recession

Stagflation and recession both involve poor economic performance, but they are different conditions. A recession is officially defined as a significant decline in economic activity across the economy, lasting more than a few months. It is typically marked by negative Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and rising unemployment.

However, during a typical recession, inflation is usually low or even negative (a condition called deflation). With less spending and lower demand, prices tend to fall or stabilize. A recession is a normal, albeit painful, part of the business cycle.

Stagflation adds a twist. It includes the slow growth and high unemployment of a recession but is accompanied by high inflation. This combination is what makes it so unusual and difficult to manage. So, while an economy in stagflation can also be in a recession, the presence of rising prices distinguishes it from a regular economic downturn.

The Relationship Between Inflation and Unemployment

For a long time, economists believed there was a predictable trade-off between inflation and unemployment. This theory suggested that when unemployment was high, inflation would be low, and when unemployment was low, inflation would be high. Policymakers thought they could choose a point along this curve to balance the two.

Stagflation completely upends this traditional relationship. During a period of stagflation, an economy experiences both higher unemployment and higher inflation simultaneously. This breaks the expected trade-off and creates a major puzzle for those in charge of economic policies.

This is because the tools used to fight one problem can make the other worse. For example, raising interest rates to lower inflation can slow the economy further and increase unemployment. Conversely, stimulating the economy to create jobs could push inflation even higher. This conflict makes stagflation one of the most challenging economic problems to solve.

The Impact of Stagflation on Society and Daily Life

Stagflation isn’t just an abstract economic concept; it has real and painful consequences for people’s daily lives. When stagnant economic growth is combined with rising prices, households feel the pressure from multiple directions. Your disposable income shrinks as higher costs for essentials like food and gas eat up more of your budget.

This financial squeeze leads to a decline in consumer spending, which further harms businesses and slows the economy. The combination of a rising cost of living and job insecurity creates widespread financial anxiety. Let’s look closer at how stagflation specifically affects consumers, businesses, and society as a whole.

Effects on Consumers and Households

For consumers and households, stagflation feels like a financial vise. The most direct impact is a decline in purchasing power. Even if your salary stays the same, the higher prices of consumer goods mean your money buys less, effectively giving you a pay cut in real terms.

This erosion of disposable income makes it harder to afford everyday necessities, let alone save for the future. Families may have to cut back on spending, delay major purchases, and dip into their savings account just to make ends meet. The financial stress can be immense, especially for those on fixed incomes.

The effects on household finances include:

Reduced ability to save for goals or build an emergency fund.
Increased levels of debt as people borrow to cover rising costs.
A lower standard of living as budgets for non-essential items shrink.
Greater financial insecurity due to the threat of job loss.

Consequences for Businesses and Employers

Businesses also face a difficult operating environment during stagflation. They are hit with a double whammy of rising production costs and falling consumer demand. The same supply shocks that drive up consumer prices also increase the costs of raw materials, energy, and transportation for companies.

At the same time, because consumers have less spending money, demand for products and services weakens. This puts businesses in a bind: they face pressure to raise prices to cover their higher costs, but doing so could drive away even more customers. This conflict squeezes profit margins and makes planning for the future nearly impossible.

Faced with these challenging economic factors, many businesses are forced to cut back. This can mean freezing hiring, reducing investments in new projects, and, in many cases, resorting to job losses to stay afloat. This, in turn, contributes to the high unemployment that characterizes stagflation.

The impact of stagflation extends beyond individual households and businesses to create broader social challenges. The combination of a high unemployment rate and rising prices can lead to widespread public discontent and social unrest. Economists even created the “Misery Index”—the sum of the inflation and unemployment rates—to measure the level of economic distress felt by the public.

Persistent economic stagnation can also have long-term consequences. It discourages investment and innovation, which are crucial for future economic activity and prosperity. As the economy fails to grow, opportunities diminish, and social mobility can decline, leading to a sense of pessimism about the future.

Ultimately, stagflation tests the resilience of a society and its leaders. Finding a way out often requires difficult policy choices that can be politically unpopular, further complicating the social and economic landscape. The memory of events like the sharp rise in the price of oil in the 1970s serves as a reminder of how external shocks can trigger these deep-seated problems.

Historical Examples of Stagflation

Stagflation is not just a theoretical possibility; it has happened before. The most prominent historical example occurred in the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s. This period was defined by a toxic mix of soaring inflation, sluggish growth, and high unemployment that baffled economists and frustrated the public.

This memorable era was triggered by a perfect storm of factors, including a major oil embargo and policy missteps, leading to a deep and prolonged recession. Examining these past periods of stagflation offers valuable lessons on what causes it and the challenges involved in overcoming it. Let’s explore these historical instances.

Stagflation in the 1970s

The stagflation of the 1970s is the textbook case of this economic ailment. In the United States, the decade was marked by economic turmoil that began with rising inflation fueled by high government spending and loose monetary policy. However, the situation spiraled out of control following the 1973 oil crisis.

In response to U.S. support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo. This caused the price of crude oil to quadruple. Since oil was a critical input for nearly every part of the economy, this supply shock drove up costs across the board.

The result was devastating. The Consumer Price Index soared into double digits, while the economy sank into a deep recession. Unemployment climbed, but prices kept rising. This period shattered the prevailing economic wisdom and left a lasting scar on the American economy, demonstrating how vulnerable it was to global events.

Other Instances Around the World

While the 1970s U.S. case is the most famous, other countries have also experienced periods of stagflation. The term was originally coined in the United Kingdom in 1965 to describe a mix of high inflation and low growth, showing that the problem existed even before the major oil shocks of the next decade.

The U.K. faced another bout of stagflation from 2010 to 2012. Following the 2008 financial crisis, a fragile economic recovery was crushed by high oil prices. This supply shock pushed inflation up sharply while GDP growth slumped and unemployment remained high. This episode showed that even in the modern era, economies are not immune.

Other developed nations have faced similar threats at various times, often linked to policy choices or external shocks. Economic policies enacted after major events like World War II or other geopolitical conflicts have sometimes led to inflationary pressures combined with weak production, echoing the conditions of stagflation. The National Bureau of Economic Research often analyzes these periods to understand their unique triggers.

Lessons Learned from Past Occurrences

Studying historical bouts of stagflation provides crucial insights for today’s policymakers. One of the most important lessons is that managing inflation expectations is critical. Once people and businesses start expecting high inflation to continue, it can become a self-fulfilling prophecy that is very difficult to break.

The experience of the 1970s and 1980s demonstrated that curing entrenched stagflation often requires decisive and sometimes painful action. The Federal Reserve, under Chairman Paul Volcker, ultimately broke the back of inflation with aggressive interest rate hikes, but this came at the cost of a severe recession.

From these past events, policymakers have learned to:

Act preemptively to control rising inflation rates before they become embedded.
Recognize the dangers of relying too heavily on monetary policy to stimulate growth.
Develop more resilient economic policies to better withstand a supply shock.
Understand the importance of credible and independent central banking.

Policy Responses and Potential Solutions

Tackling stagflation is one of the toughest challenges for economic policymakers. The central dilemma is that the standard tools to fight inflation tend to worsen unemployment, and vice versa. A central bank can raise interest rates to cool inflation, but that slows the economy. Alternatively, the government could increase spending to boost growth, but that risks fueling more inflation.

Therefore, finding the right mix of policy responses is a delicate balancing act. It often requires a multi-pronged approach involving both monetary policy from the central bank and fiscal policy from the government. Let’s review the strategies available and the difficulties in implementing them.

Government and Central Bank Strategies

When faced with stagflation, governments and central banks have several strategies they can deploy, though none are easy. The primary goal of the central bank, such as the Federal Reserve, is to restore price stability by reining in inflation. This often involves tightening monetary policy.

On the other hand, the government can use fiscal policy to address the stagnation side of the problem. This focuses on creating a better environment for economic growth and productivity. By combining these approaches, policymakers hope to steer the economy out of the stagflation trap.

Potential policy responses include:

Aggressive Interest Rate Hikes: The central bank can raise its benchmark interest rate to make borrowing more expensive, which cools demand and reduces inflation.
Supply-Side Reforms: The government can enact policies like deregulation or tax cuts for businesses to encourage investment and increase output.
Controlling Government Spending: Reducing non-essential government spending can help lower overall demand in the economy and ease inflationary pressures.
Credible Communication: Clearly communicating a long-term commitment to fighting inflation can help manage public expectations.

Challenges in Resolving Stagflation

Resolving stagflation is notoriously difficult due to the conflicting nature of the problem. The core challenge is that policies designed to fix one part of stagflation often make another part worse. This creates a painful trade-off for policymakers.

For example, the most effective tool against higher inflation is aggressive interest rate hikes. However, this action is designed to slow the economy down, which can lead to higher unemployment and a deeper recession in the short term. This was the “shock therapy” used in the early 1980s, which cured inflation but at a great cost.

This situation puts policymakers in a political bind. The necessary medicine to cure stagflation can be very unpopular with the public, who must endure job losses and a weak economy before seeing the benefits of lower inflation. Navigating this without losing public support is a major hurdle in escaping the stagflation cycle.

Steps Individuals Can Take to Protect Their Finances

While you can’t control the economy, you can take steps to protect your personal finances during a period of stagflation. The combination of rising prices and a weak job market makes financial preparedness more important than ever. The key is to focus on building a strong financial foundation.

Start by reviewing your budget and cutting back on non-essential consumer spending. With higher prices eroding your disposable income, it’s crucial to ensure your money is going toward what matters most. At the same time, focus on strengthening your financial safety net.

Here are some practical steps to consider:

Boost Your Emergency Fund: Aim to have enough cash in a high-yield savings account to cover 3 to 6 months of essential living expenses.
Pay Down High-Interest Debt: Variable-rate debt, like credit card balances, will become more expensive as interest rates rise.
Review Your Investments: Ensure your portfolio is well-diversified to manage risk. Consider assets that historically perform well during inflation.
Focus on Career Security: In a weak job market, investing in your skills can make you a more valuable employee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Is Stagflation Harmful for an Economy?

Stagflation is deeply harmful because it attacks an economy from two sides. It combines the pain of economic stagnation—like slow growth and higher unemployment—with the financial strain of rising prices. This dual threat erodes household savings, reduces purchasing power, and creates widespread economic misery with no easy policy solution.

Can Policymakers Prevent or Fix Stagflation?

Fixing stagflation is difficult but possible. It often requires tough and unpopular decisions from policymakers. A central bank may need to raise interest rates sharply, risking a recession to stop inflation. The government can also implement supply-side reforms, but these solutions take time and can be politically challenging to execute.

What is stagflation in simple terms?

In simple terms, stagflation is a toxic economic mix where three bad things happen at once: prices go up (inflation), the economy doesn’t grow (slow economic growth), and many people are out of work (a high unemployment rate). It’s like having a recession and high inflation at the same time.

How is stagflation different from a regular recession?

A regular recession involves slow economic growth and high unemployment, but prices are typically stable or even falling. Stagflation is different because it includes all the pain of a recession but adds the extra burden of higher inflation, meaning the cost of living continues to rise even as the economy shrinks.

What can people do to protect their finances during stagflation?

To protect your finances during stagflation, focus on building a strong financial cushion. Prioritize creating a robust emergency fund in a savings account, paying down high-interest debt, and reducing non-essential consumer spending. Reviewing your investment strategy to manage risk is also a wise move amid economic uncertainty and higher prices.