Short answers, pulled from the story.
The earliest documented period of inflation began in the year 330 BC when Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire. This event triggered a rapid influx of money into conquered territories and led to the debasement of silver coins by mixing them with cheaper metals like copper or lead.
The Price Revolution swept across Western Europe in the second half of the 15th century and caused prices to rise sixfold over the course of 150 years. This economic upheaval was driven by the flood of gold and silver seized and mined by the Spaniards in Latin America.
Venezuela recorded an annual inflation rate of 833,997% as of October 2018, which stands as the highest in the world. This extreme case demonstrates how quickly a currency can lose its value when the supply of money is not backed by real economic output.
New Zealand first implemented inflation targeting as a monetary policy strategy in 1990. As of 2023, the central banks of all G7 member countries follow an inflation target, with the official target in most OECD countries being about 2 percent.
Keynesian economics dominated macroeconomic research and economic policy in the first decades after World War II. The stagflation of the 1970s proved the limitations of the Keynesian view and led to the rise of monetarist theories led by Milton Friedman.
The 2021 and 2023 inflation surge peaked in 2022 and was caused by a mixture of expansionary fiscal and monetary policy after the COVID-19 pandemic. Additional drivers included supply chain problems, energy price rises following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and corporate profits.