The Economy: From Mist to Rain

From Capitol Hill committee rooms and economists' computers came the same insistent message. Inflation is no longer a threat but a reality. Politicians and Ph.D.'s wrangled earnestly over varying techniques to fight the fire, but few could disregard the smoke signals. After seven years of immobility, the wholesale price index has spurted 4.1% in the past year, last month alone rose seven-tenths of 1 %, the steepest February increase since the precipitate price escalation early in the Korean War. Industrial production was up 9% over the preceding February; personal incomes grew...