Actually, the problem is it is not our money, it’s not anyone’s money, it has been produced out of thin air and consequently is backed by no value.

Consider barter: A produces something B wants and B produces something A wants. They swap, each gets something they value more than what they swapped, both are wealthier. Wealth is created in the exchange and flows reciprocally.

But Barter is inflexible because A might not have what B wants or B has enough of it, so by using money as a means of exchange, B can get something from A, and A can get something from someone else later. Both then swap something, both get something, both are wealthier, wealth flows between the two. Money, not in itself of any value, but stores potential wealth as it can be exchanged for something of value.

But the start point for money is it is created by producing something of value which backs it and can be used to make someone wealthier.

All money then is backed by something and this gives it its value.

Except… enter Government which has a monopoly on currency, and doesn’t have to produce anything of value to create money - it just creates it out of nothing, thin air so it is backed by nothing and has no value.

People get this valueless money via ‘stimulus’, quantitive easing, subsidy, welfare, etc, and buy goods. They hand over nothing and get something in return, producers hand over something and get nothing in return.

Wealth now flows from producers (who get poorer) to the people with the money who get richer.

Thin-air-money pumped into the economy produces a mis-match between the amount of money in circulation and the goods backing it. Only part of that money is actually the result of productive activity. This dilutes the overall value of the money in circulation - each unit is worth less than before.

When there is more money to buy goods than goods available to be bought, then prices go up = inflation. Anyone who shops can understand that. If weather has been bad and the strawberry crop is poor, fewer strawberries are on sale in the stores and prices are higher than last year when there was a bumper crop and tons of strawberries at low prices.

So prices do not cause inflation they are its result, just as higher strawberry prices do not cause bad weather and poor harvest. Too much money chasing too few goods.

And increasing output of goods - which evidently has physical limits - is not the solution, because those goods will not be creating money, still they will be bought by funny-money of no value. And that funny-money is all the way through the productive process pushing prices up, compounding the effect for ever higher end-user prices.

Solution? Start taking money out of circulation. Usually done by monetary policy, don’t replace spoiled bank notes, bank rate being increased above level of inflation, and fiscal policy - reduced Government spending higher taxes.

Tough, but the alternative is economic collapse. Of course if that’s the aim…