, Columnist
Please Do Not Call Inflation ‘Transitory’
When politicians and economists use the term, they’re really saying that the public is upset about nothing.
It’s OK to call it temporary.
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I’m tired of hearing that the current spike in inflation is “transitory” — not because I doubt the underlying economics of the claim, but because the ever-more-common usage is devaluing a precious word.
Officials at both the U.S. Federal Reserve and the White House have been using the word for months. So have their critics. Inflation, says Senator Joe Manchin, isn’t “transitory” because it’s “getting worse.”