Once we get past the deficit-hysteria that we have here in New Zealand (National's obsession with reaching surplus), we then uncover the inflation-hysteria whenever John Key or Bill English warn us about destructive inflation and make reference to Zimbabwe or the Weimar Republic. These historical examples of hyper-inflation happened under circumstances that included government corruption, international sanctions, and a massive and sudden drop in productivity - none of which apply to New Zealand!
There's an idea that's being floated around in the US currently: Issuing platinum coins directly out of Treasury to repay debt and continue deficit spending. Predictably, many have responded to this idea in a similar way to how Mr. Key and Mr. English have responded to Russell Norman's proposals - talk of printing presses, getting out the photo-copier, Zimbabwe, Weimar, and so on.
This piece, posted on New Economic Perspectives, goes some way toward allaying those inflation fears.
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