PGMs = platinum group metals, i.e. platinum, palladium, rhodium, but not gold or silver.
"If inflation occurs, why would people want to save money and clear debt?"
Because those credit agencies that keep calling are really annoying. Deep down people know that the only way to be secure is to be debt free. Inflation really creates insecurity - you're getting squeezed from under (as in the bottom line to pay for necessities). In that environment, having to make debt payments is scary, ESPECIALLY when the economy is crap and you could lose your job or not get pay raises.
Most people (rightly so) are not interested in taking on new debt during an inflationary period. It's crazy right, economists prescribe inflation as a way to deal with "sticky wages" so that the real cost of employment goes down without having to negotiate wages downward. You cannot at the same time argue that will encourage people to borrow, because debt payments are exercised nominally (and creditors often - punitively or capriciously - rack up the interest rate on top of that) so while more of your salary is going to pay for basic necessities, that debt burden still floats on top of the budget, and possibly gets worse.
Comments
PGMs = platinum group metals, i.e. platinum, palladium, rhodium, but not gold or silver.
"If inflation occurs, why would people want to save money and clear debt?"
Because those credit agencies that keep calling are really annoying. Deep down people know that the only way to be secure is to be debt free. Inflation really creates insecurity - you're getting squeezed from under (as in the bottom line to pay for necessities). In that environment, having to make debt payments is scary, ESPECIALLY when the economy is crap and you could lose your job or not get pay raises.
Most people (rightly so) are not interested in taking on new debt during an inflationary period. It's crazy right, economists prescribe inflation as a way to deal with "sticky wages" so that the real cost of employment goes down without having to negotiate wages downward. You cannot at the same time argue that will encourage people to borrow, because debt payments are exercised nominally (and creditors often - punitively or capriciously - rack up the interest rate on top of that) so while more of your salary is going to pay for basic necessities, that debt burden still floats on top of the budget, and possibly gets worse.