Goldilocks gets a mauling

摘要

America's famous "new economy" promised rapid growth without inflation. Yet its inflation rate is now the highest of any big rich economy. No wonder share prices tumbled when the latest figures were published on April 14th (see page 69). A prudent central bank increases interest rates at the first sign of overheating, before inflation actually takes off. So far the Federal Reserve has been too lax, and that now makes its task doubly difficult.