Political Opinion

Stagflation: The Word of the Month

The Great American Squeeze

Image by Bing + Author

We are all feeling it — at the grocery store, at the gas pumps, in our stock portfolios, in our wallets, and in our daily lives.

It’s what happens when you mash up two topsy-turvy, hold-on-for-dear-life words together — stagnation and inflation — to create a double whammy of economic whiplash.

I, for one, need a neck brace and an Xanax for what happens next.
I’m old enough to know that it’s happened before — when gas lines snaked around the block, mortgage rates soared past 15%, and Jimmy Carter wore a cozy cardigan during a televised fireside chat to tell us to turn down the heat.

What Is Stagflation?

So what is this compound, French-born portmanteau — of two words compounded together — that’s giving economists nightmares and the rest of us heartburn?

Stagflation: Politically tied to the 1970s, is an economic shitshow where stagnation and inflation team up to squeeze households from both ends — leaving families to survive on Hamburger Helper without the beef.

There’s nothing good about it.
Unless you’re willing to spend 70% of your income on food and shelter, and pretend the other 30% belonged to…