This is planet money from NPR.
For the last year or two, we have been in a certain universe, a universe of high inflation and higher interest rates than we're used to.
The economy has been overheated, as they say, which is not great.
But not too long ago, just before the pandemic, we had the opposite problem.
We were in a universe of abnormally low inflation and abnormally low interest rates.
The economy was underheated, we'll say, which is also not great.
Some inflation is good.
Really?
There's a sweet spot.
Yeah.
Low inflation and low interest rates are signs that something is wrong with the economy.
And for years, it seemed like nothing we did could get us out of the low interest rate, low inflation rut, not just in the US, but around the world, in Germany, in Italy, the UK, Japan.
And economists were saying, it looks like we are going to stay in this universe for a long time.
Uh, obviously, we have now left that universe.
Oh, yeah, big time.
But one leading economist is saying, yeah, but we'll likely return to that old universe of low inflation and low interest rates once things settle down.
Another leading economist, though, is like, I'm not so sure.
Uh, Larry Summers, you are saying, no, we're going to be in a whole different universe now.
I'm saying at least there's a substantial chance of that, yes.
So you're leaning like, the world we've known is probably not going to come back anytime soon.