Inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...
most commonly refers to a rise in the general price level over a period of time (also known as ''price inflation'').
Inflation may also refer to:
Business and economics
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Job title inflation
Job title inflation is the increasing number and size of grandiose job titles in corporations and organisations, without a corresponding increase in pay or an increased importance of the job.
Purpose
Job title inflation is most often used to at ...
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Monetary inflation
Monetary inflation is a sustained increase in the money supply of a country (or currency area). Depending on many factors, especially public expectations, the fundamental state and development of the economy, and the transmission mechanism, it ...
, an expansion in the quantity of money in an economy
Education
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Credential inflation
Credentialism and degree inflation refers to a number of related processes, resulting in an inflation of demands of educational qualifications, and the devaluation of these educational qualifications.
Credentialism or professionalization is the ...
, the devaluing of academic credentials and increase in academic requirements, due to the increase over time of the average level of education
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Grade inflation
Grade inflation (also known as grading leniency) is the general awarding of higher grades for the same quality of work over time, which devalues grades. However, higher average grades in themselves do not prove grade inflation. For this to be grad ...
, the increase over time of academic grades, faster than any real increase in standards
Natural sciences
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Inflation (cosmology)
In physical cosmology, cosmic inflation, cosmological inflation, or just inflation, is a theory of exponential expansion of space in the very early universe. Following the inflationary period, the universe continued to expand, but at a slower ...
, the expansion of space in the early universe at an exponential high rate; the inflationary epoch lasted at least 10
−35 seconds
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Warm inflation
In physical cosmology, warm inflation is one of two dynamical realizations of cosmological inflation. The other is the standard scenario, sometimes called cold inflation.
In warm inflation radiation production occurs concurrently with inflationa ...
, a particular description of cosmological inflation
* The act of inflating an
inflatable
An inflatable is an object that can be inflated with a gas, usually with air, but hydrogen, helium, and nitrogen are also used. One of several advantages of an inflatable is that it can be stored in a small space when not inflated, since inflat ...
, anything designed to be expanded with air or gas (such as a balloon)
* The pufferfish's ability to
inflate its body when under duress.
Mathematics and computation
* The action of INFLATE, the algorithm that reverses
DEFLATE compression
* The inflation map in
group cohomology
In mathematics (more specifically, in homological algebra), group cohomology is a set of mathematical tools used to study groups using cohomology theory, a technique from algebraic topology. Analogous to group representations, group cohomology ...
(mathematics)
Other
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Body inflation
Body inflation or inflation fetish is the practice of inflating or pretending to inflate a part of one's body, often for sexual gratification. It is commonly done by inserting items such as balloons, bouncy balls, or beach balls underneath cloth ...
, a type of paraphilia.
See also
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Expansion (disambiguation)
Expansion may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''L'Expansion'', a French monthly business magazine
* Expansion (album), ''Expansion'' (album), by American jazz pianist Dave Burrell, released in 2004
* Expansions (McCoy Tyner album), ''Ex ...
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Deflation (disambiguation), the antonym of inflation
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