The problem with the population at-large is that they either never understood what was "taught" when they were exposed to economics at school - or never were exposed in the first place.

Inflation is to prices as acceleration is to velocity.

If you stop increasing the speed, it doesn't mean that you automatically slow down. When you add more speed by accelerating, it means your steady-state speed is now faster.

Similarly, inflation is the rate of change in prices, not the finite price. The prices "never" (other than in extreme circumstances) go back down to what they were before they were increased by inflation. Politicians are fond of saying they will "stop inflation" with the perception to voters that this means that prices will be reduced to those in "the good old days" which is a naïve wish. It is true that, in some circumstances (say an end to the Iranian challenges) a component of the steady-state prices can go down, but those are external events beyond the control of central banks.

The above is obviously over-simplistic. It is likely understood by most politicians (who are not always as dumb as they appear) and only reenforces how duplicitous they are when they pander to the ignorance of the population.

Jeff