Commentary Across the developed world, central bank officials continue to reassure the public that the global spike in inflation over the past nine months is transitory and that inflation should return to pre-pandemic rates sometime in 2022. At the same time, the U.S. Federal Reserve has begun to taper its purchases of government debt (which should reduce the money supply), while the Bank of Canada recently ended its program of quantitative easing (where the bank buys government bonds or other assets to inject money into the economy), thereby initiating a gradual tightening of this historical episode of expansionary monetary policy. Indeed, central bankers, including Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem, believe the recent surge in inflation is primarily due to COVID-related supply chain disruptions combined with a surge in consumer spending associated with massive government payments meant to mitigate the effects of the lockdowns, business closures, and job losses. But …