INFLATION WORRIES: Haunted by ’20s Hyperinflation, Germans Balk at Euro Aid. “F’or the average American, inflation means the home price is increasing and the value of debt is going down,’ said Peter Bofinger, a prominent economist on Mrs. Merkel’s independent council of economic advisers, ‘whereas the German invested in life insurance and sitting in an apartment he rented is much more vulnerable to inflation.’”