A European Informational Website
learn more
Stagflation, a portmanteau of the words stagnation and inflation, is a term in general use within modern macroeconomics used to describe a period of out-of-control price inflation combined with slow-to-no output growth, rising unemployment, and eventually recession. The term stagflation is generally attributed to United Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer, Iain MacLeod in a speech to parliament in 1965.[1][2] "Stag" is drawn from the first syllable of "stagnation", a reference to a sluggish economy, while "flation" is drawn from the second and third syllables of "inflation"--a reference to an upward spiral in consumer prices. Economists associate the presence of both factors as unit costs increase because fixed costs are spread over smaller output.