shades fills you in

we all know it: inflation is high. how high? check out the u.s. bureau of labor statistics inflation tracker here

it’s not just the u.s. --the eurozone is suffering its worst inflation in history

stepping back a bit, how do we measure inflation? bloomberg offers an explainer of the most popular measure -- the consumer price index (cpi) -- using the (surprisingly volatile) price of mayo

but rent inflation is a bit puzzling, and a policy challenge. zillow says rent inflation hit its peak but the federal gvt says rents are still going up. what gives? the atlantic explains that rent price increases only impact new renters. it can take months before the impact shows up in the data

in a wsj op, biden said fighting inflation is his top priority. his 3-part plan: 1. let the fed do its thing without politics getting in the way, 2. make things cheaper by boosting u.s. production and fixing supply chain snarls, and 3. reduce the deficit

he dismissed the idea that the american rescue plan drove inflation. but the hill said most economists agree it made an impact -- the debate is over how much

the nyt said supply shocks from covid and ukraine also drove inflation in early 2022. but inflation stayed high even after those factors faded. we may need people to lose their jobs for inflation to cool down

the economist pointed to 3 reasons why inflation stayed high: a series of global shocks, rising wages, and the belief that inflation will stick around

an nyt op said this is all the fed’s fault. it’s pumped way too much money into the economy and kept interest rates too low -- since 2010. easy money meant investors made too many risky bets

a bloomberg op agreed. the fed acted like it could sustain steady growth forever. but a healthy economy requires pain at times. the fed can help soften a recession, but it’s not its job to prevent one

a politico op said the fed is way too worried about inflation. prices are settling down, and aggressive interest rate hikes will send us into a pointless and painful recession

a wapo op said washington needs to stop trying to micromanage the economy. excessive spending and lax monetary policy got us into this mess. if we want a sustainable economy in the long term, we need to have more faith in the market to bring things back into balance

the national review said the fed is *finally* taking inflation seriously, but it can only do so much. the key for biden and congress is to not make things worse by raising taxes or boosting gvt spending

the american prospect, otoh, says rising inflation has nothing to do with stimulus spending or fed policy. instead, it blamed 40 years of deregulating the supply chain and us relying too much on chinese manufacturing

one investor said the relative size of the millennial generation is partly to blame. there are way more millennials than gen xers, and millennials now have the cash to spend big, on things like homes and cars

yahoo finance didn’t buy it. boomers control the world -- from the fed, to major corps, to the chinese gvt. how on earth can we blame millennials for inflation?

a wsj op said deglobalization is also part of the inflation story. as the world becomes less integrated, expect prices to go up

so what happens once we get inflation under control? former treasury secretary larry summers says there’s a good chance we’re headed back to “secular stagnation” -- a long period of slow economic growth