The equation y = 100(0.96)^x represents the purchasing power of $100 after x years of inflation, where the inflation rate is 1 - 0.96 = 0.04, or 4% per year.
To see why, note that the equation can be rewritten in the form:
y = 100 * (1 - 0.04)^x
which is equivalent to:
y = 100 * 0.96^x
This means that after one year of inflation, the purchasing power of $100 is reduced by 4% to $96, and after x years of inflation, the purchasing power is reduced by 4% for each year, leading to a reduction of 0.04^x of the original value.
Therefore, the rate of inflation used to make this calculation is 4% per year.