Stagflation

A recently coined term that combines the economic effects of "inflation", i.e. escalating prices, and "stagnation", i.e. stagnant, or no economic growth in terms of gdp. prices as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) may be increasing while the economy is not expanding. When an economy is not growing (stagnant), but prices are increasing, this is not a healthy situation for a country. This occurred in the 1970s when oil prices increased and the economy was slowing down.