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It's still early days of allowing independent (i.e. apolitical) monetary policy committees from controlling money supply/interest rates, but we are and have been in a unprecedented period of relatively low inflation for the past couple of decades. This is despite the greatest financial crash since the great depression.

I'd say there is good grounds for saying this is a great human invention - although probably not on a par with sanitation.

No the system isn't perfect - it is structurally flawed like all other systems - but it has worked well and the negative side-effects can be managed

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  > This is despite the greatest financial crash since the great depression.

Inflation isn't necessarily a problem when you have a depression or recession (unless inflation is the cause of the pain). During the Great Depression we experienced deflation, IIRC, as the money supply contracted (a shrinking number of dollars chasing a more-slowly shrinking number of goods). So while I'm not saying you're right or wrong, the absence of inflation during an economic crisis really isn't evidence of anything in particular.

The rate of inflation is how modern central banks are graded on their performance. In countries like the UK or New Zealand, it is the primary benchmark and the main metric that is targeted. The story is a bit different in the US where the Fed is mandated to watch over prices AND output + employment.

Although its not the same as economic output - having stable prices is important to support growth or a recovery. Deflation prolongs a depression - this was the major motivator for quantitative easing in the last financial crash.

I should correct myself - I should have said "low + positive + stable" inflation and not just "low inflation"

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