Over the last few months there have been numerous comments on blogs on the nature of inflation in historical periods, particularly that inflation has always been with us to a certain extent. The below chart demonstrates that this is clearly not the case. Using the Bank of England complied data set, it is clear that inflation is very much a 20th century phenomena.
Moreover, when the period between 1688 and 1914 is analysed, we see periods of very mild inflation and mild deflation but real wages did grow during this period.
Inflation is therefore not a necessary condition for rising prosperity in a society. What matters is the growth in real wages which can be increased by rising nominal wages or a mild fall in the general price level.