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Among the many pithy teachings of Mr. Averbach, my high school history teacher, was “Debtors love inflation, because existing debt is the only thing that doesn’t get more expensive.”

Obviously, there are some qualifications with this kind of statement. For starters, this doesn’t apply to new loans originated during rampant inflation—those obviously get more expensive.  But the guy (or girl) who took his loan when inflation was 2% doesn’t owe more just because inflation spiked to 10%. In fact, as a general rule, that inflation is good for this person. Wages and income are likely rising (even if not keeping up with inflation), including any earned from the money borrowed (maybe it was for a college education, or an investment property), while the cost of his debt holds steady