A three-decade high in inflation sows concerns about America’s recovery

IF AN AVERAGE American decided that last month was high time to buy a new sofa and then spent his evenings drinking beer on it, he would have been lucky. Both the furniture and the brew cost a little less than a few weeks earlier. Unfortunately, that same American may have been painfully aware that just about everything else—his rent, the petrol for his car, his food and even that new leafy plant next to the sofa—cost a fair bit more. The best level for inflation, economists joke, is when people do not notice it. In America it is becoming very noticeable. In October the consumer-price index rose by 6.2% compared with a year earlier, the highest rate in more than three decades (see chart 1).