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Asian inflation has been ------- in the last couple of months, and its governments are taking further measures to keep inflation numbers down.

(A) disrupted (B) subdued (C) overturned (D) adjusted

The book has given (A) disrupted as the best answer to complete the sentence, but I feel like it should be (B) subdued.

Because the word 'further' suggests that inflation was already on a downward trend, and the governments' measures of keeping inflation down are a continuation of the preexisting declination of the inflation.

The phrase 'keep inflation numbers down' is synonymous with 'subdue inflation', whereas 'disrupt inflation' doesn't really have as clear a meaning as the former phrases.

I agree that the word subdue tends to have an actor, and originally wondered if inflation could be 'subdued'. But the definition of subdue includes 'to bring under control' and 'to reduce the intensity or degree of', which makes sense when applied to inflation, and after some research I have found sources (likely same as Edwin's) for 'subdue inflation'

Thoughts?

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    Your justification for subdued inflation makes sense, though one does not normally subdue inflation; you can have subdued inflation or subduing inflation, though. The 'actor' is kept anonymous (market forces, perhaps).
    – Lawrence
    Mar 6, 2018 at 17:33
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    Please include the research you’ve done. Questions that can be answered using commonly-available references are off-topic. I've found some (though not a vast number of) relevant examples from reasonable sources for "subdue/d inflation". What have you found?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Mar 6, 2018 at 17:36
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    A few dictionary entries wouldn't go astray (covering the research requirement), but the real problem with this question is that the underlying test question is close to 'read the teacher's mind'. That's what happens when one writes a test question with more (unwritten) context than the question states.
    – Lawrence
    Mar 6, 2018 at 17:43
  • I agree that the word subdue tends to have an actor, and originally wondered if inflation could be 'subdued'. But definition of subdue includes 'to bring under control' and 'to reduce the intensity or degree of', which makes sense when applied to inflation, and after some research I have found sources (likely same as Edwin's) for 'subdue inflation'.
    – Joe
    Mar 6, 2018 at 19:05

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"Subdued" seems the better answer to me. "Disrupted" seems to imply that a very high rate of inflation has been largely eliminated, and from the context, that doesn't seem to be the case. (Also, arguably, we consider "inflation" to be the overall change of prices, so inflation is everpresent, although sometimes zero and sometimes negative.)

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