The Bank's Inflation Map picks out famous examples of inflation from around the world. You'll see that in the 1790s price increases got out of control in France after the Revolution. And the end of World War 1 led to a famous episode of hyperinflation in Germany in the 1920s. But prices can fall with equally damaging consequences. The 1990s in Japan were known as the "Lost Decade" as prices slipped downwards for several years.