ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the inflation with the help of the idea of the so-called inflationary gap or excess of purchasing-power, which, however, has been applied only to the markets for commodities or parts of them, during and after the Second World War. The concept of the inflationary gap, as it is used in both the theoretical analysis and in the attempts to calculate statistically the pressure of inflation, may be said to have had its origin in the pamphlet by J. M. Keynes. The idea of computing such an inflationary gap as a guide in economic policies was taken up afterwards, partly in the U. S. A., both officially and by a series of the authors. The inflationary gap in the commodity-markets must be defined as the difference between purchases of commodities as would be optimum for the purchasers, and the available quantity of commodities.
