In much of the world, economic policy is becoming tighter

INFLATION, IT IS often said, is a matter of too much money chasing too few goods. In many places that has been 2021 in a nutshell. Resurgent demand collided with insufficient supply, yielding inflation of 3% in the euro area, more than 4% in America and over 9% in Brazil. Such price pressures, together with early signs that economies would take off as lockdowns ended and more people were jabbed, led policymakers to set the course for scaling back emergency stimulus. In many places fiscal support is being withdrawn and...