During periods of high inflation, a strange and very human pattern emerges: instead of tightening spending, people often accelerate it. If a washing machine will cost 10% more next month, buying it today isn't impulsive — it's rational self-protection against a currency that's visibly losing value.
This behavior can become self-reinforcing. When enough people rush to spend before prices rise further, that surge in demand itself pushes prices up faster, feeding the very inflation everyone is reacting to. Economists call the extreme version of this a "flight from cash" — the moment people trust holding money less than holding almost anything else.
It's also why central banks watch not just prices, but expectations. If people simply expect high inflation to continue, they behave in ways that help make it continue — a psychological feedback loop as powerful as any supply shock.
The bottom line: Inflation isn't only a story about prices — it's a story about what people believe money will be worth tomorrow.