Deflation is a snowball rolling downhill - it gets bigger and bigger faster and faster until it crashes at the bottom. If you want to stop it you must get it before it's too big and moving too fast. Japan is exhausting itself trying to push the deflation snowball back uphill. America's version of the Great Depression was an example of the effects of unchecked deflation. Deflation bad. Hyperinflation bad. Stagflation bad. Moderate inflation good. Check out the 'Kondratieff Cycle' at a variety of websites.