All about inflation

Explain It to Me

Vox Media Podcast Network

Education, Politics, News, Society & Culture

4.4 • 7.9K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2021

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Skanda Amarnath from Employ America joins Matt to talk about inflation. They discuss how the Fed tracks markers of inflation, the difference between cyclical and asymmetric inflation, and talk about whether or not to give into Larry Summers's fears about an "overheated" economy in our recovery. Resources: "Inflation: The Good, The Bad, and The Transitory" by Skanda Amarnath and Alex Williams (Feb. 12, 2021) Guest: Skanda Amarnath (@IrvingSwisher), Director of Research & Analysis, Employ America Host: Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias), Slowboring.com Credits: Erikk Geannikis, Editor and Producer As the Biden administration gears up, we'll help you understand this unprecedented burst of policymaking. Sign up for The Weeds newsletter each Friday: vox.com/weeds-newsletter. The Weeds is a Vox Media Podcast Network production. Want to support The Weeds? Please consider making a contribution to Vox: bit.ly/givepodcasts About Vox Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Follow Us: Vox.com Facebook group: The Weeds Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, welcome to another episode of the Weeds on the Box Media Podcast Network.
0:16.0	I'm Ethrew Iglesias.
0:17.1	My guest today, Skanda Amornaath, is the research director at Employ America.
0:21.7	Employ America is a great organization.
0:23.5	We've had previous Employ America guests on here, but Skanda is really like the guy on
0:29.8	the Fed, monetary issues, and wanted to talk to you about inflation and overheating,
0:37.2	which people are talking about lately, the possibility that we're going to see an inflationary
0:43.7	economy coming later this year.
0:46.5	And so I mean, I don't know.
0:48.5	Will we?
0:49.5	So first, thanks for having me on.
0:51.7	I think that the question about inflation really needs a little bit of additional precision
0:57.5	about exactly what kind of inflation are we talking about here?
1:02.1	Are we talking about sort of one off price adjustments in particularly affected sectors,
1:07.6	like airfares and lodging, due to the reopening from the economy, maybe some additional
1:13.4	ability to spend because of the American Rescue Plan?
1:17.0	Sure.
1:18.0	I think that there are certainly sectors that are more where you could see some price adjustments
1:22.4	on the upside, and then you do see something that looks like a little bit of inflation technically.
1:27.2	And if we're talking about stuff that's more persistent and the kinds of things that really
1:30.3	warrant aggressive policy responses, it seems far less obvious that that's a case.
1:36.2	The notion that one off spending plan and one off set of transfers through fiscal policy
	...

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