societal imbalance manifestation, Netherlands, US, statistical data comparison
Samenvatting
An interdisciplinary approach to inflation is used which considers inflation as the economic manifestation of a wider social imbalance. Specifically, there is a significant relationship between rising inflation & increasing anomie in society. While neoclassical macroeconomics is mainly an equilibrium theory, the various theories of inflation currently proposed are derived from economists who criticized the equilibrium concept. Inflation, itself, is an imbalance phenomenon par excellence. The concept of anomy is derived from E. Durkheim who derived a typology of anomy in modern societies. He provided the theoretical foundation for a hypothesis that treats inflation & anomie as two aspects of the same process of social change. More precisely, it is hypothesized that there is a positive, significant relationship between the yearly rate of inflation & the yearly measures of several statistical data relative to the period 1955-1974 in the Netherlands, & the period 1960-1973 in the US. The anomie indicators are: violent crimes, crimes against property, suicide, homicide, & divorce. An extrapolation of the present trends leads to a forecast of economic disintegration. Inflation could be fought at the social level, through a concerted effort toward greater social integration. This could be best accomplished at the micro & meso levels. 8 Tables. A. Orianne.
