Post-pandemic inflation spikes mirror postwar patterns - but with luck may ease in a few years
- Post-COVID inflation resembles post-WWII price spikes, which peaked at over 20% before falling back to 2% within 2 years
- Supply shortages and heightened demand, from both wars and the pandemic, threw economies out of balance
- Easy monetary policy in the 2010s, as in the 1960s, laid groundwork for inflation
- Prior shocks took 2-6 years to tame inflation, suggesting current inflation could hit 2% target by summer
- The "American Dream" postwar era brought material gains but had downsides like cultural blandness and inequality
