The White House prepared the American people for “extraordinarily elevated” inflation ahead of the key March data, describing 40-year high inflation as “Putin’s price hike.” The U.S. annual inflation rate surged to 8.5 percent last month, topping the market estimate of 8.4 percent. The core inflation rate, which strips the volatile energy and food sectors, advanced 6.5 percent. But while Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine exacerbated inflationary pressures, particularly on food and energy, many market analysts believe the root causes of soaring prices have more to do with fiscal and monetary expansion in Washington than the conflict in Eastern Europe. According to Luke Tilley, the chief economist at Wilmington Trust, inflation is at its highest level in four decades owing to “massive” government stimulus, and unusually accommodative monetary policy from the U.S. central bank, as well as COVID-19-induced spending on goods and supply chain problems. “Inflation is incredibly …