Since March 2020, America’s focus has been on the pandemic. Most think the worst is past while fear of a new Omicron variant wave lingers.
Since January 2022, the U.S. economy has eclipsed its 41-year record inflation rate (8.5% in March) and a decline in productivity: through the first 4 months of 2022, the S&P 500 is down 13% and the GDP has shrunk at an annualized rate of 1.4%. Suddenly, the pandemic is old news and inflation is the new news.