Unpleasant surprises in the inflation rate continue, and inflation is clearly “public enemy number one.” The current economic cycle started in spring 2020, when the Federal Reserve and  Washington injected an unprecedented dose of liquidity. While this bailed the nation out of the fastest and sharpest recession in history, it overstimulated the economy. President Biden’s Covid subsidies and American Rescue Plan pared the U.S. unemployment rate to 3.6%, generating more jobs than willing workers,placing upward, inflationary pressure on wages. The Fed’s Mount Everest of cash created unsustainable asset bubbles in the stock, real estate, collectibles, and crypto markets. Meanwhile, China’s Covid shutdowns continue to generate supply chain problems, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine put further upward pressure on oil, gasoline, natural gas, and food prices.