What’s Really Behind the Great 2021 Inflation Debate

It’s been a long time since anyone in America or Europe had to think seriously about inflation. But the highest U.S. numbers since 2009 have rattled financial markets and critics of President Joe Biden are warning that his big spending could trigger a full-blown 70s-style price spiral.Bloomberg Senior Asia Economy Correspondent Enda Curran reports from Hong Kong on the price pressures facing Asian exporters, and how they’re affecting what consumers pay in American stores. Then host Stephanie Flanders talks to Jason Thomas, head of Global Research at the Carlyle Group, who says he believes that reopening the U.S. economy will help push inflation back down again—and that the long-term forces which have kept a lid on prices are still in place. With U.S. gas stations across the Southeast running short of supply and drivers sitting in line to fill their tanks, you would have been forgiven for thinking the 70s had already returned. Though the Colonial Pipeline is now back up and running, Chief Energy Correspondent Javier Blas explains how a cyberattack on America’s biggest fuel conduit could do such damage, and why U.S. energy companies are scrambling to shore up their defenses. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.