worrying and long term or benign and trans fory. i m not a economist but as a student of history, i wonder if the return of inflation is part of a larger shift that is taking place across the world. to put it simply, for decades in country after country, economics trumped politics but now from china to turkey to the united states, politics is trumping economics. tz con kwes of inflation is one of the most far reaching changes of our time. countries used to think they had to live with and manage escalation and rising prices. when they got out of hand, they often had severe consequences. unlike unemployment, who affect just the small percentage of people who don t have jobs, inflation affects everyone. and unlike unemployment, which shrinks what you might have earned in the future if you had a job, inflation shrinks what you have now by eroding the