Cantillon effect

Etymology

Named for Richard Cantillon, an Irish-French economist and banker of the early eighteenth century, whose posthumous Essay on the Nature of Commerce in General (published 1755) traced how new money spreads unevenly from its point of entry. The insight faded from mainstream economics for centuries and was revived largely by the Austrian school and, more recently, by critics of quantitative easing and by cryptocurrency advocates. That revival means the term now carries a distinct political charge it didn’t originally have.

noun phrase · /kan-tee-YON ih-FEKT/
The uneven way new money ripples through an economy, enriching whoever receives it first before prices rise for everyone else.
What it names
Why money printing isn’t neutral — those closest to the spigot, like banks and asset holders, buy at old prices while wage earners feel the inflation later — a lens on who actually gains when central banks act.
Example
When cheap credit floods in, the Cantillon effect shows up as asset holders getting richer long before ordinary paychecks catch up to the higher cost of living.
Related idea
Ordinary inflation describes the general rise in prices; the Cantillon effect is about distribution — the timing and order in which that new money reaches people, and who profits from being early.