Inflation Is Overwhelmingly Concentrated in Durable Goods

Paul Krugman is a Nobel Laureate in economics, a columnist at The New York Times, and a Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He rejoins David on Macro Musings to discuss the great inflation surge of 2021 and its implications for policy. Specifically, David and Paul discuss the state of public opinion surrounding inflation, whether the level of aggregate demand or its composition is the more important driver, what the state of the economy would be if the Fed had more aggressively countered inflation, whether the Fed squeeze is the appropriate response, and much more.

Transcript for the episode can be found here.

Paul’s Twitter: @paulkrugman

Paul’s NYT profile: https://www.nytimes.com/column/paul-krugman

Related Links:

*The Year of Inflation Infamy* by Paul Krugman

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/opinion/inflation-economy-2021.html

*It's Baaack: Japan's Slump and the Return of the Liquidity Trap* by Paul Krugman

https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/1998/06/1998b_bpea_krugman_dominquez_rogoff.pdf

*The Princeton School and the Zero Lower Bound* by Scott Sumner

https://www.mercatus.org/publications/monetary-policy/princeton-school-and-zero-lower-bound

David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth

David’s blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/