The Cognitive Social Harm of Inflation in the Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

Inflation in economic literature is predominantly analyzed as a monetary and financial phenomenon. Nevertheless, its extensive social consequences indicate that inflation is not merely a macroeconomic variable; rather, it can be examined as a form of structural and self-reproducing harm within a system of governance. The present study, drawing upon the theoretical framework of social harm within the tradition of critical criminology and by developing the concept of cognitive social harm, seeks to explain chronic inflation in the Islamic Republic of Iran beyond purely economic analyses. The research adopts an analytical–theoretical methodology grounded in conceptual reconstruction and proposes a conceptual model explaining the relationship among cognitive biases of monetary policymakers, institutional distortion, liquidity expansion, and the reproduction of social harm. The findings demonstrate that chronic inflation is the product of specific perceptual patterns within the governance system which, through interaction with institutional structures, lead to the production and institutionalization of social harm. Within this framework, the concept of the state’s cognitive responsibility is introduced as a complement to legal and economic responsibility. By extending the literature on social harm, this article provides a foundation for future empirical testing of the proposed model.