As always, this is an article worth reading from this author. The relations among money, asset prices, and the prices of consumer goods is the gist of the matter.

The thing is, though, people in the investor class don't start buying more clothes, food, and gas becasue they have sold assets. Inflation in those areas is initiated by increased costs in production and transportation and/or shortages in supply. Businesses exacerbate inflation by taking advantage of an opportunity to do what they always want to do: raise prices to increase their rate of profit. When inflation is present people are more successful in demanding increases in pay as a response to increasing prices, which further increases the costs of production, and the dred 'inflationary spiral' is born.