Suddenly an economist from the IMF shows up. Trust me, the equations all work out. At times of national economic disaster, it rushes in telling people to raise interest rates and to cut fiscal spending, knowing full well that this will lead to massive unemployment. This will prevent inflation, so the theory goes. Prices dropped during the Great Depression.
Inflation is attributed to too much money chasing too few goods.
The result is unemployment, because some businesses become less able to borrow money to pay workers, while others lose their customers - the government and consumers who are less able to raise the money to buy things. One alternative is to attack the goods side - making sure there are enough goods available for the money to chase, thus reducing unemployment in order to combat inflation. Greater supply of goods imply lower prices. Today, money is considered its own commodity - it is not backed by other commodities, thus its value fluctuates with respect to the relative availability of various commodities. Previously, money was not its own commodity, but was backed by another - namely gold.