inflation

  For much of the postwar era, macroeconomic policy rested on an intuition famously formalized by the Phillips curve: Economic slack, typically associated with high unemployment, and inflation tend to move in opposite directions. Weak growth cools prices; overheating pushes them up. Monetary policy can therefore stabilize one variable by leaning against the other. Stagflation […]

  Over the past several years, much has been said and written about the state of the financial markets and the ongoing bull run, particularly in United States equities, which seems even more striking when compared to data from the real economy. The decoupling between stock markets and the broader economy, which has been underway […]

  Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) has shifted from academic margins into policy conversations because it presents a straightforward proposition: If a country issues its own currency, it need not fear deficits; the only binding constraint is inflation. For governments facing aging populations while preparing for strategic rearmament, green investment and industrial policy, this message is […]

  Recent developments in politics, economics and social cohesion are troubling for Europe. France is on the brink of bankruptcy, with deficits still around 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Other countries – including Germany – are not much better off when one considers not only the official debt but also implicit debt. Implicit […]

  In early 2025, inflation was about 2.8 percent both in the European Union and in the United States, barely making headlines. Until mid-March, most commentators were predicting that in the following months the figure would drop further to about 2.5 percent. Everything seemed to be under control. Very few noted that the rates were […]