Apoplithorismosphobia (fear of deflation)

Mark Thornton, an American economist of the Austrian School and a senior fellow with the Ludwig von Mises Institute, wrote in The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics (Winter 2003):
 
“Apoplithorismosphobia (ay-pope-lit-horris-mos-foe-be-ah) is the fear of deflation.”
 
The word “apoplithorismosphobia” consists of “apoplithorismos” (Greek for “deflation”) and “phobia” (fear). The term “apoplithorismosphobia” has been little used, but was popularized by the Zero Hedge blog article “Keynesian Folly And Irrational Apoplithorismosphobia” in January 2014.
 
   
Wikipedia: Deflation
In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0% (a negative inflation rate). This should not be confused with disinflation, a slow-down in the inflation rate (i.e., when inflation declines to lower levels). Inflation reduces the real value of money over time; conversely, deflation increases the real value of money – the currency of a national or regional economy. This allows one to buy more goods with the same amount of money over time.
 
Wikipedia: Mark Thornton
Mark Thornton is an American economist of the Austrian School. He has written on the topic of prohibition of drugs, the economics of the American Civil War, the “Skyscraper Index”, and the 18th-century Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. He is a Senior Fellow with the Ludwig von Mises Institute and a Research Fellow with the Independent Institute.
 
The Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics (Winter 2003), pg. 5
APOPLITHORISMOSPHOBIA
MARK THORNTON
Apoplithorismosphobia (ay-pope-lit-horris-mos-foe-be-ah) is the fear of deflation.* Or. more correctly, the fear that an economy would “suffer” from falling prices, or a general decline in the prices of goods and services. It is a fear that has gripped some economists, journalists, and policymakers with a blinding strength as powerful as faith.
* I am grateful to Chris Motsiopoulos for his Greek translation of the word deflation.
   
Ludwig von Mises Institute
Bernanke’s Apoplithorismosphobia
Mises Daily: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 by Mark Thornton
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, like most mainstream economists, has an irrational fear of deflation — whether it is understood as falling prices or a contracting money supply. I have coined the term “apoplithorismosphobia” for this psychological malady. In contrast, average Americans love deflation whether it’s at Wal-Mart, in the Cash for Clunkers program, or from the tax credit for first time home buyers. Austrian economists love most forms of deflation too, and we think it is the ultimate cure for economic crises.
 
Urban Dictionary
Apoplithorismosphobia
The fear of monetary and economic deflation, as coined by Austrian economist Mark Thornton
The vast majority of mainstream economists and policy-makers suffer from chronic apoplithorismosphobia. Thus, they recommend aggressive central banking and monetary inflation
by likesuchas August 25, 2009
 
Twitter
Juan Fernando Carpio
‏@jfcarpio
@K3socuantico @gpachano @JuliusEC http://bit.ly/sWJi9b  #Apoplithorismosphobia
10:38 PM - 8 Dec 11
 
Zero Hedge
Keynesian Folly And Irrational Apoplithorismosphobia
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/07/2014 17:44 -0500
Submitted by John Cochran, via the Ludwig von Mises Institute,
(...)
A good interpretation of the Bernanke Fed monetary central planning since the end of the “Great Recession” with its near zero-interest rate policy coupled with multiple rounds of quantitative easing (QE) driven by apoplithorismosphobia, is that the Fed has been attempting to follow Keynes’s advice.
 
Twitter
jdread
‏@jdread
APOPLITHORISMOSPHOBIA. The fear of deflation.
7:45 PM - 7 Jan 14