How Inflation Made Its Comeback

After decades in hibernation, COVID has unleashed inflation once again. Before we can fight it, we need to understand it.

Illustration by Rob en Robin.


Several rounds of stimulus actually left house-holds with more disposable income than would have been the case had pre-COVID trends continued. As a result, the economy was spared a worse hit than it otherwise would have received, but household spending helped fuel inflation once recovery was underway.
The car industry is a good example of inflation driven by supply constraints rather than any surge in demand. Since the start of 2021, motor vehicles prices, after rising only 4% over the previous 20 years, surged by more than 12%. Yet far from being the result of more demand, the number of vehicles sold has collapsed, falling from a pre-COVID annual rate of 17–18 million to about 14 million.

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