Get set for an inflation scare

Investors are getting complacent about inflation. They should prepare themselves for a fright.

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The US labour market is tightening quickly
(Image credit: Credit: Richard Levine / Alamy Stock Photo)

Strong US GDP figures carried a "sting in the tail", says The Economist. The world's largest economy shrugged off a government shutdown to expand at an annualised pace of 3.2% in the first quarter, comfortably outstripping consensus forecasts. Yet "quiescent" inflation running at an annual rate of 1.9% in March suggests that underlying demand could be weak, so the Federal Reserve is unlikely to resume hiking rates for now.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.