Consumer prices in America rise at their fastest pace since 1981

UNHAPPY ECONOMIES are often unhappy in their own ways. Today most, however, are battling a common foe: a surge in consumer-price inflation. According to figures released on April 12th, consumer prices rose by 8.5% in March in America, compared with a year earlier—the fastest pace since 1981. In Britain and the euro area consumer prices rose by 7% and 7.5%, respectively, in the year to March. Across most rich and emerging economies, inflation is now well above central banks’ targets.In summer 2020, after a period of too-low inflation, America’s Federal Reserve said that it would tolerate inflation that was a little above its 2% target for a time, in the hope of making up for undershoots. In the subsequent 20 months, consumer prices have blown past where they would have been had the Fed achieved its 2% target on average, putting pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates fast.