Food-price inflation has more complex causes than other price increases, and addressing it effectively requires a different set of strategies. But rich-country governments are not sufficiently discussing them, and the world’s poor are continuing to suffer as a result.
NEW DELHI – The question of how best to control inflation is back on the economic policy agenda, and opinion is divided about how to address it. The mainstream view emphasizes the need for tighter monetary policies and regards higher interest rates and reduced liquidity provision as justified, even if they dampen the fragile economic recovery now underway in many countries. Others argue that today’s inflation is transitory, reflecting temporary supply bottlenecks and labor-market shifts, and will soon correct itself.
NEW DELHI – The question of how best to control inflation is back on the economic policy agenda, and opinion is divided about how to address it. The mainstream view emphasizes the need for tighter monetary policies and regards higher interest rates and reduced liquidity provision as justified, even if they dampen the fragile economic recovery now underway in many countries. Others argue that today’s inflation is transitory, reflecting temporary supply bottlenecks and labor-market shifts, and will soon correct itself.