Inflation is Here

“Prices Soar on Crop Woes” reads the headline in today’s Wall Street Journal.

Global output of key crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat is down, and their prices are up, respectively, 94%, 51% and 80% from June lows. Today’s PPI report has wholesale prices up 1.1% in December after rising 0.8% in November. The Journal reminds us that in 2008 high food prices sparked riots around the world.

Meanwhile Fed officials tell us they don’t expect inflation.  It is not an issue of expecting inflation, but of observing it here and now.  The Fed prefers, of course, to look at “core” inflation rates, which are much lower. A former Fed colleague explained to me the central bank does so on the theory that people do not need to drive to work and can stop eating.

In our global economy, easy US monetary policy has thus far mainly affected commodity prices (including now food), real-estate in Asia and now broader price measures in Asia. It is implausible that the US would remain unaffected. Food, energy and clothing prices are all rising. I don’t think many households are presently gripped with a fear of deflation.

In the Mises/Hayek theory of economic fluctuations, the transmission of monetary shocks works through producer prices and incomes, and only later consumer prices. No measure of consumer prices, and certainly not a subset of consumer prices, is an adequate gauge of inflation.

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About Gerald P. O'Driscoll 16 Articles

Affiliation: Cato Institute

Gerald O’Driscoll is a widely quoted expert on banking and monetary policy. Previously the director of the Center for International Trade and Economics at the Heritage Foundation, O’Driscoll was senior editor of the annual Index of Economic Freedom, co-published by Heritage and The Wall Street Journal. He has also served as vice president and director of policy analysis at Citigroup, and vice president and economic advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. He has also served as staff director of the Congressionally mandated Meltzer Commission on international financial institutions.

He is widely published widely in leading publications, including The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on national radio and television, including Fox Business News, CNBC and Bloomberg. With a dozen years experience as a university professor, O’Driscoll speaks regularly at academic conferences and universities.

O’Driscoll holds a B.A. in Economics from Fordham University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from UCLA.

Visit: Jerry O’Driscoll's Page

2 Comments on Inflation is Here

  1. And after increasing currency by over 300%, why is this any surprise or news? The only positive element outcome of this story is the big pile of worthless pulp we can stuff in Paul Krugman’s mouth…

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