ag, doesn't inflation hit the middle class the hardest?
The poor aren't hit the hardest because they generally live paycheck to paycheck - they have little savings. And during inflation, wages usually rise just as fast as prices. So the net effect on the poor would be nil.
The wealthy, of course, have assets - homes, stocks, land - that all rise in value with inflation. That protects them.
The middle class though, have cash savings which can easily be wiped out by inflation if not invested. Isn't this what happened during hyperinflation in Germany (of course they're not the same thing, but still)?
Also,doesn't inflation hurt creditors at the expense of debtors? The reason being that debt is not indexed to inflation, so over time, it decreases the debt load, where deflation increases it. This is why poor farmers in the American midwest advocated inflationary (or at least anti-deflationary) policies in the late 19th century.
Hardly anybody has substantial cash lying around in the bank, and most people are a paycheck or two away from serious trouble. Short of the crazy, runaway inflation in unstable nations, the worst inflation does to most people is the "OMGZ, I remember when five cents was a lot of money" crap I hear from my dad.
