If you remember "My Sharona," then you remember the last time we were talking about inflation.  Let me remind you that that "one-hit wonder" The Knack, scored that back in the summer of 1979.  It was a high-energy rock tune that sort of signaled the end of the disco era.

Back then, we had a lot of talk about inflation, gasoline prices, and a "malaise speech."  Everyone was talking about the poor guy in the Oval Office, who seemed a bit overwhelmed by events.  Back then, the guy worked all the time.  Today, he goes home early Friday afternoon.

Well, here we go.  Our nemesis inflation is back, and the smart people are getting worried.  Check this out:

The debate may be raging over whether inflation is transitory, but America's CEOs and CFOs haven't been this concerned about rising prices in more than a decade.

"224 cited the term 'inflation' during their earnings calls for the second quarter. This is the highest overall number of S&P 500 companies citing 'inflation' on earnings calls going back to at least 2010," John Butters, senior earnings analyst at FactSet, wrote in his weekly note.

That's not good.  It gets worse:

Companies, including Tyson Foods and Kroger, have warned investors and consumers to prepare for price hikes.

This is not good.

To be fair, some of these inflationary pressures are related to supply disruptions during the pandemic.  At the same time, it did not help to shut down oil pipelines or limit exploration at a time when consumers needed cheap gasoline more than ever.

Just think about this: what if you were paying $2.20 a gallon rather than $2.89 (as we are in the Dallas area)?  That's an extra $10 if you put 15 gallons in the tank.  It adds up!

How long is this inflationary storm going to last?  I don't know, but sending money to people at home rather than working did not help.  Neither did talking about spending trillions of dollars on a bill mislabeled infrastructure.

President Biden owns this.  I am not sure if he knows it.

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Image: How the fed prints money.  YouTube screen grab.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.