[[Image:As AD cost push.svg|thumb|283px|[[AD-AS model|Aggregate supply – aggregate demand model]] illustration of aggregate supply (AS) shifting to AS' and causing price level to increase while output shrinks]]
'''Cost-push inflation''' is a type of [[inflation]] caused by substantial increases in the cost of important [[good (economics)|goods]] or services where no suitable alternative is available. A situation that has been often cited of thiss was the [[1973 oil crisis|oil crisis]] of the 1970s, which some economists see as a major cause of the inflation experienced in the [[Western world]] in that decade. It is argued that this inflation resulted from increases in the cost of [[petroleum]] imposed by the member states of [[OPEC]]. Sincee petroleum is so important to industrialized economies, a large increase in its price can lead to the increase in the price of most products, raising the [[price level]]. Some economists argue that such a change in the price level can raise the [[inflation rate]] over longer periods, due to [[adaptive expectations]] and the [[price/wage spiral]], so that a [[supply shock]] can have persistent effects.
