Drought, climate crisis, fertilizer shortages and war threaten world food security and inflation; the Molotov cocktail fuse of hunger is burning. As the special military operation continues, it is not clear whether classical monetary theory will control inflation nor whether it will solve the problem of hunger.
Headlines are abuzz with the return of inflation, which, according to some measures, is now reaching 40 year highs. Considering that vanquishing inflation is supposed to be the one undisputed achievement of neoliberalism, why is it rising? Many explanations – from excessive money creation to disrupted supply chains to tightening labour markets and a post-lockdown surge in demand are offered.
The view that it would be a short term affair is giving way to a more sobering assessment of its persistence, particularly since geopolitical conflict gave inflation a booster shot. As for its solution, one thing is clear, dealing with it as Paul Volcker famously did in the late 1970s is not a politically affordable option for governments beholden to elites whose outrageous fortunes depend on low interest rates.
This panel will seek to examine this phenomenon by asking question such as why is inflation rising? Can we expect it persist? What are the major policy-options being discussed and what are their political implications of each? How should socialists think about this new problem?
The annual inflation rate in the US reached 8.4 % in March 2022, the highest in four decades. Latin America shudders at the memory of how Governments controlled inflation then. Are there conditions for a new Volcker shock? What is different four decades later?
Since the late 2020s, the world began to experience a sustained rise in inflation that has not stopped. As the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic began to subside, the world experienced a sustained increase in price levels that has not stopped. The Russian military operation on Ukrainian territory has become a further force pushing up prices globally. While several commodity-exporting countries see rising commodity prices as an opportunity to improve their external economic balances, they will also have to face the pressure that prices will put on them.
“If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail”. Still haunted by the clever preaching of monetarist guru Milton Friedman’s ghost, all too many monetary authorities address every inflationary threat or sign they see by raising interest rates.
Friedman’s dictum that “inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon” still defines the orthodoxy. Despite changed circumstances in the world today, for Friedmanites, inflation must be curbed by monetary tightening, especially interest rate hikes.
As 2022 progresses, the economic growth/stock markets/inflation control trilemma that we have already discussed becomes more evident. Now we start to look at central banks' decisions and analyse how these will impact growth and financial markets.
Recent statements by Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), say that post-confinement inflation remains outside their influence. Its sources are the recovery of demand and border upheavals, she says. The ECB, like the Fed, combats the economic effects of the pandemic with large injections of liquidity into the markets and improvements in financial conditions. However, the latest monetary policy statement left aside price stabilisation, its only mandate. Does this mean that the ECB will sit back and watch inflation decimate purchasing power?
Globally, inflation closed 2021 at its highest level in the last twenty years (40 years in the case of the US) and projections indicate that during 2022. However, even if it is lower than last year, we will continue to see it high in 2022. Why is it a top concern for governments, central banks and consumers?
Governments are concerned that central banks will speed up the normalization of interest rates in the face of high inflation rates. This would put a brake on economic recovery and job creation and, in some cases, would cause the deterioration of the fiscal balances of some countries that acquired debt to mitigate the effects of the economic contraction or slowdown.
The strategies followed by governments and central banks to control inflation will determine the economic conditions of the coming years and the ability of the world to recover from the economic contraction of 2020.
The rebound of the world economy was the great feature of the year 2021. Anticipated as strong rebounds, they were less strong for some than for others. Governments that injected money into public investment improved their recovery more than those that did not.
2021 has been the one with the highest inflation in the world since the 1970s with Brazil, Turkey and the United States leading the way, but followed by everyone else. The consequence is that central banks around the world initiated interest rate hikes as a way to contain inflation, so the GDP growth rate in 2022 will be very low overall.
It was a good year of economic rebound, but at the cost of high global inflation that central banks will have to face in the years to come. The recovery was rapid due to increases in government deficits and debt, and even so, spending still does not contribute to economic growth.
Since economic activity resumed after the lockdowns, high rates of inflation have been observed around the world, although some monetary authorities have indicated that it is transitory. . The integration of global value chains, the magnitude of international trade and the productive and financial interdependence have shaped this post-confinement inflation.
Inflation is far from transitory, companies are facing a combination of supply chain challenges, as well as higher costs for energy, raw materials, packaging and shipping, all while becoming one of the biggest concerns of consumers around the world.
Central banks have taken a more aggressive stance. US Fed officials accepted that high inflation, which has risen to 5 percent, will be long-lasting. These measures are contractive, contrary to the much desired recovery of the product.
