It is maintained by most experts that a general fall in prices, called deflation, is “bad news” for the economy because it postpones people’s buying of goods and services. This, in turn, allegedly undermines investment in plants and machinery. All this sets in motion an economic slump. Moreover, as the slump further depresses the prices of goods and services, this intensifies the pace of economic decline. According to the former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke, Deflation is in almost all cases a side effect of a collapse of aggregate demand--a drop in spending so severe that