ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Quantity theory of money

The quantity theory of money is like a recipe for making pies. Let's say you want to make ten pies, you will need a certain amount of ingredients like flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. When you make more pies, you will need more ingredients.

In the same way, the quantity theory of money says that the amount of money in an economy is like the ingredients you need for making pies. When there is more money in an economy, prices will go up because there is more money chasing the same amount of goods and services.

For example, if there is only $100 in the economy and there are ten apples, each apple would cost $10. If suddenly there is $200 in the economy, but still ten apples, each apple would cost $20 because there is more money available to buy the same amount of apples.

This theory helps us understand the relationship between the amount of money in circulation and the prices of goods and services. It's important for governments and central banks to keep track of the amount of money in circulation to make sure prices remain stable and the economy stays on track.