Skyrocketing prices and rate hikes: this is why stagflation is scary

Stagflation is like the Yeti: many speak of it with terror but no one has ever seen it. We say “almost none”, given that the dreaded cocktail of economic stagnation and inflation was served in the 1970s both in the US and in Europe. But since then, like the shaggy Himalayan creature, no trace of it has been found. Indeed, the global economy has enjoyed about fifty years of decent growth (on average), thanks to globalization, the explosion of technologies and the rise of countries like China and India.