The Fed turned more hawkish this week, upgrading its outlook for the Fed Funds rate, and lowering its outlook on growth—leading to a risk-off tone in markets. Meanwhile, the ECB announced a new tool to help address the uneven transmission of monetary policy normalization.

Aggressive central bank tightening and declining purchasing power suggest the slowdown in growth should be steep, and faster than the inflation slowdown.

How does today's inflation compare to history and how are higher CPI numbers impacting economic growth? What can central bankers do to combat inflation? And how can investors navigate this environment? Dr. Christopher Smart weighs in on these questions and more.

And that’s on top of the other risks from war aims that are turning ever more resolute, expansive, and vague.

The FOMC raised the Fed funds rate by 50bps and announced the beginning of quantitative tightening. Chairman Powell signaled that 50bps hikes will be the new normal for the next couple of meetings, as inflation fears remain. The BoE and ECB also contemplate their paths ahead.

Tighter policy will eventually tame prices, but it’s still hard to see a U.S. recession anytime soon.

China’s zero-COVID policy should be a significant headwind to growth, with its impact likely weighing more on consumption than production. Nevertheless, more logistical delays could disrupt manufacturing activity in the months ahead and add to global inflationary pressures.

War and pandemic have disrupted recent patterns of prices and yields, but long-term inflation expectations remain in line—for now.

We’ve officially embarked on a very peculiar tightening cycle—one in which inflation is at levels more associated with the peak of the hiking cycle, and not the start.