Last year, asthma costs jumped again, by twenty-six per cent, and price inflation played a role.
At the same time, they've been pouring money into funds that invest in traditional inflation plays.
But the government, mindful that soaring inflation played a crucial role in the 1989 protests that climaxed in the bloody suppression of demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, has taken pains to show concern.
This can be a bit confusing, I realize, because inflation plays two roles in the story: past inflation distorts our view of record highs, while future inflation is the concern of some of those people making a big deal out of gold.
The Fed is raising interest rates, there have been plenty of warnings of overvalued stocks, and a bad economic report, this one on inflation, played a role last week, when the Dow fell 7.3percentt while the Nasdaq composite plunged 25.3percentt in its worst week ever.
It was these vigilantes to whom the early Clinton administration economic policy makers were in thrall; the bond market's anxiety about inflation played a big part in the tax and spending policies that contributed to today's big budget surpluses.
Also, inflation plays an important role in optimal ordering policies.
One other important aspect is the role inflation plays on asset returns.
Indeed, following Wadhwani (1986), many scholars have been interested in estimating the role inflation plays in firm's default.
