Michael J. Bazdarich, PhD - Product Specialist/Economist, Western Asset
Key Takeaways
- Any run of higher prices caused by supply disruptions or even overly expansive fiscal policy should soon run its course.
- Supply-chain disruptions do not have to vanish for the price process to reverse; disruptions need only to ease.
- There is no evidence for increases in wages autonomously driving higher inflation.
- With demand for goods and services still restrained, higher wages should not drive higher prices.
- Without an acceleration in demand growth and with a normalization of supply and supply growth, goods prices must moderate, even decline.
- Aggregate demand has not shown any acceleration from pre-COVID-19 trends, contradicting the contention that Fed policy has caused the economy to run too hot.
