Deflation or hyperinflation?
Two hypotheses have emerged: the world is heading for deflation; or it is heading for hyperinflation. What arguments are they based on? In favour of deflation, the fact that the global savings rate has not stopped rising, that there are huge ( ex ante ) excess savings over investment, even when taking account of the investment needs of the energy transition, resulting in a deflationary dynamics; In favour of hyperinflation, there are two sets of arguments: First, the huge money creation implemented by central banks, which may lead to inflation if a portion of this money is used to consume; Second, structural inflationary factors: population ageing, energy transition, need to increase low wages, return to regional value chains. The problem is that all the arguments are right: the outcome will depend on the relative weights of the different mechanisms. Thus far, the outcome has been low inflation but not deflation; financial markets expect a continuation of this equilibrium going forward.