Inflation is both a cause and consequence of changes in power and status. Competitive status activities create spiral situations which have an economic correlate. Ultimately, inflation leads to the creation of economically deprived and depressed social groups. Deflation can be achieved to some extent by redistribution of wealth dictated from above, but there remains the danger of conflict unless means can also be found of an equitable redistribution and a devolution of power and status. In some cases, for example, economic deprivation is not mirrored in local estimation by feelings of inferiority. In fact, deprivation may well provide the stimulus for upward mobility in power and status and, consequently, deflation. In New Zealand, there is a kind of class structure wherein the most deprived groups are not necessarily classes but rather minorities (a Polynesian proletariat, the aged, welfare clients, and many rural communities are not part of the power elite). Since this group is so heterogeneous, it does not constitute a unified power base; moreover, the rural pressure groups are apathetic, lack bureaucratic influence, and are divided. Consequently, New Zealand's urban-centered power structure does not respond to rural needs, but recently, return migrants have been trying to recreate urban services and may become catalytic in the initiation of a new power structure. (JC)