What Do a Billion Prices Tell Us About Inflation?

High inflation has become a central concern. After four decades of low inflation, the so-called ‘great moderation,’ the key question is whether the current situation portends a return to the high and rising inflation of the 1970s, or whether we are seeing a temporary blip due to supply chain disruptions and other effects of the pandemic. Looking at a finer-grained analysis of the price changes of individual goods and services offers some insight. Alberto Cavallo, a pioneer in gathering and using online micro-data, joins EconoFact Chats this week to discuss the major takeaways from his analysis of over a billion prices. Alberto is an associate professor at Harvard Business School. He co-founded The Billion Prices Project, and Price Stats -- the leading private source of inflation statistics in over 20 countries.