Short-term inflation is almost certain. But what could make it a long-term problem?

Inflation will be welcomed when it arrives – but in time, it could grow to become a problem. John Stepek explains why, and what that will mean for investors.

Joe Biden
A little inflation could turn into a big problem down the line
(Image credit: © Samuel Corum via Getty Images)

Yesterday, US president Joe Biden managed to get another $1.9trn in spending signed off for the US economy.

The big concern for markets is that this is going to cause inflation to take off.

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John Stepek

John Stepek is a senior reporter at Bloomberg News and a former editor of MoneyWeek magazine. He graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in psychology in 1996 and has always been fascinated by the gap between the way the market works in theory and the way it works in practice, and by how our deep-rooted instincts work against our best interests as investors.

He started out in journalism by writing articles about the specific business challenges facing family firms. In 2003, he took a job on the finance desk of Teletext, where he spent two years covering the markets and breaking financial news.

His work has been published in Families in Business, Shares magazine, Spear's Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Spectator among others. He has also appeared as an expert commentator on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, BBC Radio Scotland, Newsnight, Daily Politics and Bloomberg. His first book, on contrarian investing, The Sceptical Investor, was released in March 2019. You can follow John on Twitter at @john_stepek.