It almost seems as if pundits have been saying "the sky is falling" with regard to inflation for a couple of years. Now Kevin Williamson at NRO makes the case that inflation kind of snuck up on us when we weren't looking: Food prices are hitting record highs. Sugar, meat, oils - boom, boom, boom. Food-related products, like fertilizers, are on a pretty steep upward trajectory. (Even the reliably pessimistic cotton farmers are celebrating.) Inflation is nipping at the Chinese economy and threatens to exacerbate social unrest in the world's largest for-profit police state. Meanwhile, oil prices are zooming, and the boom in gold and other precious metals has been too amply remarked upon to bear further commentary here. So, what's happening? Has the entire planet suddenly got a serious case of the munchies? Sure, there are specific factors contributing to all of this - population growth, higher demand in Asia, non-economic events such as crop failures and droughts,...(Read Full Post)