Now, in the wake of the pandemic and $4.6 trillion in federal relief and stimulus spending, which was enabled by the Powell Fed expanding its balance sheet to monetarize much of the resulting new debt, year-over-year inflation was 9.1% in June 2022. The Fed responded by raising the federal funds rates to 5.1% by May of this year — far-below peak inflation. Although home buyers, businesses and equity investors might want lower interest rates, those currently are not terribly high when measured against expected inflation. As a result, home sales and prices are in a rebound, interest-rate-sensitive tech stocks are leading a stronger U.S. stock market, and wages, according to the Atlanta Fed, are rising at 6% annually. In the months ahead, we could see temporary dips in inflation thanks to rents, but over the next few years inflation in the range of 4% is likely. With U.S. economic growth running at less than 2%, that’s stagflation. Peter Morici MarketWatch 11 ...