A gentler way to achieve some modest reduction in public and private debt burdens would be to commit to a period of sustained but moderate inflation, as I recommended in December 2008 in a commentary entitled “Inflation is Now the Lesser Evil.” Sustained moderate inflation would help to bring down the real value of real estate more quickly, and potentially make it easier for German wages to rise faster than those in peripheral countries.
要达到适度削减公共和私人债务负担的目的，一个比较温和的方法是让这些国家产生一段时期持续但温和的通货膨胀，正如2008年11月我在一篇名为“当前通货膨胀相对债务而言危害更小”的评论中所提议的一样。持续温和通胀有助于更快降低房地产的实际价格，而且很可能会使德国的工资水平比欧元区外围国家上涨得更快。在四年半前，这是一个妙策。现在也不失为一个好主意。