Several commentaries from various writers and radio broadcasters are circulating at the moment predicting a “deflationary spiral” for 2009 and beyond. I read about this first in the November 13 issue of The Economist in an article entitled Depressing Times. On the surface, that might seem like a good thing, but when you dig deep, it’s not a good thing at all. What is deflation? Deflation is the direct opposite of inflation.