When it became apparent in Q3 of 2021 that inflation had reached 6.2%—the highest it’s been in 31 years—even the optimists began backing away from the idea that pandemic-related price increases might prove short-lived. In an issue devoted to problem of inflation and the prospect of deflation, Luckbox focuses on staying in front of the markets. It presents opposing viewpoints on stagflation, examines recent runaway inflation in the price of vehicles and houses, surveys the increased cost of living over the last 20 years, and explores the misery that results from a combination of higher price and higher unemployment. There’s advice on crypto as a hedge against inflation, a look at how China deals with higher prices and a call to embrace the deflation that tech advances can spawn. The fun continues with the Rockhound’s Top 5 five albums of 2021 and a plunge into an ice barrel to test cold therapy.
