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I think a problem that keeps popping up here is the idea that government is a major influence on inflation. Let me be clear: government is nowhere near a 100% influence on inflation.
If you want to look deeper than monetary policy---which is merely an influencer that seeks to maintain the 2 to 4% rate I mentioned---you will realize the lion's share of pressures on inflation resides in the balance between supply and demand. So the conditions surrounding labour, capital, production, and demand have a much greater impact on the direction of prices.
If prices drop (say, through a deflationary period), then companies are going to scale back production because there will be less money to be made. This leads to unemployment.
If prices steadily increase through an average inflation of the 2 to 4% I keep talking about, then companies keep chugging along and expand their businesses, seeing how price growth is robust enough to keep along with it. This creates jobs.
You want your government to encourage a balance. Deflationary periods are almost always a sign of trouble.
Even if you consider inflation as a kind of tax, you should happily pay it so long as it remains reasonable. It's good for the economy and therefore your livelihood.
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Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot
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