Economists have know for 500 years that a currency must have some inflation, otherwise people will hoard it and it will not be available for use as a currency.
What economists advocated this position in 1515?
I've never come across these scholars in my actual academic work, or even the notion of economics as a discipline per se existing at that time, so whatever you've discovered must be truly groundbreaking.
500 years? Try 2000 years - have a look at
Diocletian controls over inflationary debasement of specie in the roman empire. Not quite the same thing, but this has been an issue for a bit.
In a more contemporary
context2000 years and the fuckers still can't get it right.
A problem is to attempt to present economics as if there is only ONE prevailing thought or that only one perspective will work...
Yes BTC has a fixed supply and a fixed inflation schedule, and that causes it to be deflationary overall. That may make bitcoin problematic for if it were to become the only currency - but at this time, currency is only one aspect of bitcoin.
Currently, bitcoin likely occupies far less than .1 % of any currency, payment system, storage of value, etc.; however, in the future if BTC becomes much more focused as a go to store of value, then maybe at that point, there will need to be some attention focused on creating some kind of inflation system that goes beyond the 21 million...
On the other hand, at this time, the supposed inflation problem remains very speculative because BTC occupies so little space in the overall financial scheme of things.