Wondering What's Next for Inflation and Consumers? Walmart Just Released a Big Hint.
World governments and central banks responded to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 with unprecedented stimulative fiscal and monetary policy. So much surplus money and easy credit to help bolster a struggling economy is going to eventually create side effects.
The side effects of those policy measures (including outsized inflation, product shortages, and rising wages) came home to roost in late 2021 and into 2022. Recent earnings reports suggest more and more companies are really starting to feel it. Efforts to get this off-kilter economy back on a steady path are hurting consumers, which drive a majority of the U.S. economy these days. Higher prices on everything from groceries to airfares to car prices and apparel have many investors concerned about what it will lead to, i.e. recession.
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Source Fool.com
