To say inflation has been running hot might be an understatement without proper context. On August 10, 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the Consumer Price Index in the U.S. increased by 8.6% from the prior year through July. This was down only marginally from last month when the year-over-year inflation through June rate came in at 9.1%, which was a 40+ year high. The chart below shows that inflation began to take hold in early 2021 as vaccines were rolled out and the economy began to recover from the pandemic. While initially thought to be deflationary, the pandemic became a powerful inflationary force around the world as consumers, whose balance sheets were buoyed by government support, purchased goods at a record pace while supply, which was negatively impacted by pandemic shutdowns, could not keep up.