It was too good to last.
For the recent generation of investors, inflation was an afterthought, a problem associated with the loose policies and energy embargoes of decades long past. Since the legendary Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker stuffed the inflationary genie back in the bottle in the 1980s, prices had remained remarkably stable, allowing interest rates to stay low — and financial asset values to stay high. Occasionally, there was even talk that inflation was too low.
Then along…
