Inflation: from complacency to panic?

Throughout 2021, central banks in developed countries allowed inflation rates to deviate from their 2% target, rising first to 3%, then 4% and then 5% or higher, without reacting. Their intentions are quite different in 2022. The tone at the Fed, the Bank of England and, more recently, the ECB has changed, pointing to a less accommodative, if not restrictive, monetary policy. Why? The immediate cause is that inflation has once again surprised on the upside, in large part because ...