[sgt101]

Amazing that the article can identify the causal factors that drove inflation during 1965-1982 - such as massive government funding to support a war, and then ignore the change in policy (end of war) that led to the moderation that followed.

The USA (especially) and UK (just a bit) have just spent trillions on a war in Iraq and Afghanistan, everyone (I can't think of an exception) has spent trillions on a war against Covid-19. It's not surprising that there is now an inflationary surge. The solution is not to have more wars or pandemics.

Unfortunately this is (to some degree) not a matter of choice for all parties. I don't think for a second that the timing of Putin's war suited the west, which is why Putin went in when he did. The timing of any war in Taiwan will not be chosen to suit all parties either. The war on terror was a matter of choice. History is revealing it to have been a very bad choice indeed. The next pandemic will not be a matter of choice either, whether it's man made or natural no one is going to wake up in the morning and say "wouldn't it be great if we had covid-3?" but if we get covid-3 we will have to react to it.

For me this is the real lesson - one that Putin is learning as well. If a state is presented with the possibility of embarking on a war of choice there is no real choice. The only rational thing is to refuse to embark on that course because the risk of catastrophe is very high and the opportunity costs are higher.