May 12, 2021
CONTACT: Jill Rosen
Cell: 443-547-8805
jrosen@jhu.edu jhunews@jhu.edu
Barbera
With consumer prices in the United States climbing to levels not seen since the recession, a Johns Hopkins University economist is available to offer perspective on possible causes and whether or not this signals inflation, or pandemic recovery.
Robert J. Barbera is director of the university’s Center for Financial Economics. He says: “This is not a sign of an inflation problem. It reflects price jumps in COVID-19 devastated sectors including hotels and airlines, where supply has been temporarily shut down and will come back. It reflects bottlenecks associated other production shutdowns, a result of COVID-19 temporary curtailments.
“We have the capacity to produce this stuff, we simply need time to get things back on line.
The debate about inflation risks, in 2022, if the economy stays too hot for too long, is reasonable.
Nothing in the report gives any information on that question.”
Barbera’s research focuses on the nexus between finance and macroeconomics. He is the author of The Cost of Capitalism: Understanding Market Mayhem and Stabilizing Our Economic Future.
To reach an expert, please contact Jill Rosen, jrosen@jhu.edu.
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