The following graph formed the basis for Glenn Beck's video talking about hyperinflation, but I thought I would repost it here. Inflation, by definition, is the expansion of the monetary base in a country. While conventionally most people associate rising prices (as measured by the consumer price index - CPI) as inflation, that's just the symptom of inflation -- the root cause in the expansion of the monetary supply. Most people concede that price increases tend to lag inflation by a year or two. So any inflation of the money supply today probably won't be felt in terms of prices for another year ...