The oil and gas industry was decimated by the shale bubble bursting last decade, and that reticence plus labor and supply shortages are keeping it from more quickly adding to capacity now. The possibility of an external hit like a windfall tax, export ban, or other such political measures risk keeping potential suppliers on the sidelines

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If public officials want to keep their credibility, they need to acknowledge this fact. No one believes that this is a great economy, or is impressed by hearing dazzling stats about job creation. People want to be reassured that our leaders see the problem, understand how they caused it, and are genuinely trying to fix it

The hope now is that fiscal and monetary policy are at least both retrenching, if policymakers truly want to wrestle inflation back down. Remember, this isn't about soaring (or collapsing) lumber prices anymore. It's about a labor market running so hot it's short of millions and millions of workers, which will make everything from childcare to elder care more inflationary in the long run