War is inflationary. Wars come in many different shapes and forms. There are hot wars, cold wars, and hot wars in cold places – cyberspace. Inflation didn’t start with the hot war in Ukraine but the war has fanned inflationary currents that had been underway: understanding today’s inflation as the result of an escalating economic war and a lingering pandemic is...
The war in Ukraine caused a chain reaction in lifting energy and commodity prices, following the decision of the West to reduce and eventually ban Russian imports of crude oil, natural gas, coal and a number of other raw materials. As a result of this, there continues to be a shortage in oil supply in the global markets. The fact that there is underinvestment in...
Fundamentals:
Interest rates stopped rising mid-January after investors priced in four FRB rate hikes within 2022, but risk assets
were sold and stock markets saw some adjustment as some observers predicted the FRB would tighten further by
shrinking its balance sheet, for example. In his speech after the FOMC meeting, though, FRB chair Jerome Powell
struck a...
