Blog: Transitory Inflation, Permanent Rise in Price
The meaning behind words/jargon matter.
When I was an undergrad I had an unusual major/minor combination. I was a math major and an English minor. Why? I liked math, and I liked to write. While that's gotten me into trouble sometimes (critics of my books often said I had too many words and not enough equations), I've always taken an interest in language and what it says about our society. If I thought I could make a living out of it, I would have spent more time studying linguistics and culture.
For example, the word "transitory" is thrown around a lot these days. When future linguists study the 21st century it's likely to be a word studied in a lot of papers. Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, used it to describe the supply shock inflation of 2021-2022. The Fed felt that while prices would rise due to shortages, that would dissipate when supply chains were reestablished after the pandemic was over.