The great inflation debate

Halloween is around the corner and the bogeyman frightening global markets at the moment is inflation. With some likening what is happening now to the Great Inflation, which was the defining macroeconomic event of the second half of the twentieth century. Over the nearly two decades it lasted, the global monetary system established during World War II was abandoned, there were four economic recessions, two severe energy shortages, and the unprecedented peacetime implementation of wage and price controls. It was, according to one prominent economist, “the greatest failure of American macroeconomic policy in the postwar period”.

But that failure also brought a transformative change in macroeconomic theory and, ultimately, the rules that today guide the monetary policies of the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world. So what is the outlook for inflation globally and in South Africa. Is it Temporary or Permanent and how might a misreading of the situation impact growth and development?

To discuss this Michael Avery is joined by Brian Kantor, head of the research institute at Investec Wealth & Investment & Kevin Lings, Stanlib Chief Economist are our guests for this discussion