Inflation rates are up 5 percent since May 2020, which signals the largest inflation increase in the U.S. since 1992. What does the risk of high inflation mean for the days ahead? While it isn’t possible to see into the future, a look at rates in the past can help provide some context. Since a little more than 100 years ago, the U.S. started measuring inflation rates. In the decades that followed, the country has experienced periods of high inflation, low inflation, and even deflation. “While a moderate degree of inflation is generally conducive to economic health, rapid inflation can be disastrous,” says Thomas Brock, a financial Advisor at Best Small Business Loans. Here’s a look at how the tracking of inflation began in the U.S., along with periods when inflation has had significant impacts on consumers and their living conditions. The Start of the Consumer Price Index The term …