Here in EU the solution we have is to simply have formal rules that a university can only give 10% As, 25% Bs, etcetera.
This isn't enforced per class, but should prevent grade inflation. It might get weird in competition with people from US schools though, when someone with straight As is found to be a C+ student.
This was reasonably common about three generations ago in the US, and the one thing I can say for certain, is that such a system is bad pedagogy.
The purpose of grades should be to inform students of their performance relative to expectations / benchmarks. It should not be used to rank students against each other.
Yes, but in the US grades are used for selection, so it seems reasonable to keep them comparable.
Since we in the EU have the Bologna system French and Italian students will come to Sweden and Swedish students go to French universities, and if some universities are just handing out As or others grade properly it will become strange.
I think it's actually useful to be able to see the people able to perform at the 10% level in hard classes. For example, suppose that a student in a less prestigious subject takes a hard class in a more prestigious subject, and performs at the top 10% level-- it seems reasonable that he should be able to show that off with a grade that is genuinely high.
Furthermore, top 10% performance is something to strive for. Top 40% performance, it's not very good. It means you've maybe understood most of the course, but it doesn't mean the ability to creatively apply the material, which top 10% in fact can.
This isn't enforced per class, but should prevent grade inflation. It might get weird in competition with people from US schools though, when someone with straight As is found to be a C+ student.