Inflation

Since the 1970s, there has only been one playbook for fighting inflation: raise interest rates, thereby creating unemployment and a recession, which will lower prices. This simple story hides a multitude of assumptions about why prices go up and how policymakers can wrestle them back down—assumptions that are often wrong, damaging, and have little empirical basis. Prominent economists Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli reveal why inflation happens, how we combat it and how it affects our lives. With accessible and engaging commentary and a good dose of humour, Blyth and Fraccaroli bring the complexities of economic policy and inflation indices down to earth. They argue that 2021 marked the end of an era of relative price stability around the world. Now, climate shocks, changing demographics and geopolitical tensions are combining to create a more inflationary future—making a new paradigm for understanding inflation all the more necessary. Astute, timely and thoroughly engaging, Inflation is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the forces shaping our economy.

Inflation is back, and its impact can be felt everywhere, from the grocery store to the mortgage market to the results of elections around the world. Yet the conventional wisdom about inflation is stuck in the past. Since the 1970s, there has only really been one playbook for fighting inflation: raise interest rates, thereby creating unemployment and a recession, which will lower prices. But this simple story hides a multitude of beliefs about why prices go up and how policymakers can wrestle them back down, beliefs that are often wrong, damaging, and have little empirical basis. Leading political economists Mark Blyth and Nicol? Fraccaroli reveal why inflation really happens, challenge how we think about it, and argue for fresh approaches to combat it. With accessible and engaging commentary, and a good dose of humor, Blyth and Fraccaroli bring the complexities of economic policy and inflation indices down to earth. Policymakers around the world may have pulled off a so-called "soft landing," but Inflation warns they must update their thinking. Now climate shocks, demographic change, geopolitical tensions, and politicians promising to upend the global order are all combining to create a more inflationary future, making a new paradigm for understanding inflation urgently necessary. Astute, timely, and engaging, Inflation is a must-read for anyone seeking to understand the forces shaping our economy and politics.