, Columnist
Inflation’s Winners Need to Help Out the Losers
Companies that were able to pass through cost increases and fatten their margins should pull back to help restore the price-cost equilibrium.
Maritime shippers have a hard argument for raising prices any further.
Photographer: John Thys/AFP/Getty Images
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It’s tough being caught in the middle, especially when it comes to inflation.
The pandemic caused a significant shift in demand toward goods and away from services and shattered the stable supply-demand balance that had spawned two decades of inflation averaging just above 2%. This abrupt change in demand patterns sparked pricing shocks that basically divided companies into winners, survivors and losers on inflation.