Leaders | Delta and the world economy

How the pandemic became stagflationary

As the virus has changed, so has its relationship to the economy

Sep 2nd 2021

IT HAS BEEN a summer of unpleasant surprises for the world economy. America, Europe and China are growing more slowly than investors had hoped. Consumer prices are rising uncomfortably fast, especially in America. Even in the euro area, used to tepid inflation, prices in August were 3% higher than a year earlier, the most in a decade. Economies are troubled by shortages of parts and labour, slow and expensive shipping and the bewildering variation of lockdown measures.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Delta means change”