The upside of inflation
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The upside of inflation

Inflation has been a documented economic phenomenon since Ancient Rome, but it has not been much of a factor in the global economy over the last decade. Now, however, with Covid-induced labor shortages and “supply chain snarls,” along with loose monetary policy from central banks looking to prop up national economies, inflation has stepped back…

Wild Ride

Wild Ride

The American stock market is experiencing its most interesting quarter in a long time, perhaps since the meltdown of the housing market that kicked off the global Great Recession. At the beginning of 2021, certain American hedge funds (investment vehicles for wealthy clients) had “shorted” stock shares of the video game retailer GameStop and a…

Class Prejudice
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Class Prejudice

As Angela Reitsma Bick noted in a recent editorial (“An Other Perspective,” CC Jan. 27), it’s distressingly easy to fall into facile “us vs. them” assumptions; and in our present cultural moment, a lot of these assumptions have to do with class distinctions. During my university years, I worked as an intern for the U.S. federal government in my home state of Alabama, a job which required me to carry an ID card.

Disruption

Disruption

I used to watch the Bloomberg channel, which specializes in financial news, with my one-year-old daughter. As you might imagine, people in suits talking about bond yield curves generally didn’t hold her attention for very long, but she always stopped to watch when a particular commercial came on.

Living Through the Losing Streak

Living Through the Losing Streak

At the beginning of May, my beloved St. Louis Cardinals held the best record in baseball’s National League. They then proceeded to hit a reinforced concrete wall, grinding out a dismal 9-18 performance for the month. Whenever the team was hitting well, the pitching imploded; whenever the pitching was solid, the bats were silent.