Welcome to Thoughts on the Market.

I'm Michael Zezis, Head of Public Policy Research and Municipal Strategy for Morgan Stanley.

Along with my colleagues bringing you a variety of perspectives, I'll be talking about

the intersection between U.S. public policy and financial markets.

It's Wednesday, May 26, at 10.30 a.m. in New York.

The financial press has inflation on the brain, and understandably so, given some recent

upside surprises in inflation data.

And last month's jobs report featured much slower than expected job growth, stoking

fears of a labor shortage and rising wages as a result.

That's got some investors worried that inflation fears might make Congress lose its nerve

on approving the multi-trillion dollar bill back better plan.

But that's not something we're worried about, mainly because inflation doesn't seem

to be something voters are worried about.

Take the latest Gallup issue poll, where only 3% of voters cited deficits as a key concern,

and only 2% of voters cited inflation as a key concern.

That makes sense when you consider how long it's been since realized inflation actually

negatively impacted the lives of most Americans.

And while that certainly could happen, perhaps even prodded by this big infrastructure package,

it's unlikely that happens soon enough to influence how Congress votes on this otherwise

popular set of proposals.

Even if you did continue to see inflation surprises, they'd likely have to be quite substantial

and happen very quickly to change their trajectory in DC.

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