Talmon Smith is an economics reporter for The New York Times and joins David on Macro Musings to talk about the great inflation surge of 2021 and its implications for policy and politics. Specifically, David and Talmon discuss the potential drivers and implications of the great inflation surge that has taken place in 2021, the current and future state of supply chains, the impact of COVID-era stimulus, the state of the labor market, the political implications of the inflation surge, and much more.   Want to support the show? Visit donate.mercatus.org/podcasts.   Transcript for the episode can be found here: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/tags/macro-musings   Talmon’s Twitter: @talmonsmith Talmon’s New York Times profile: https://www.nytimes.com/by/talmon-joseph-smith   Related Links:   *One-year jump in energy prices is a big factor in inflation’s jump*  by Talmon Smith https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/12/10/business/inflation-cpi-stock-market-news#one-year-jump-in-energy-prices-is-a-big-factor-in-inflations-jump   *Americans’ Pandemic-Era ‘Excess Savings’ Are Dwindling for Many* by Talmon Smith https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/business/pandemic-savings.html   *President Biden's job approval sinking on inflation, crime and COVID: POLL* By Brittany Shepherd https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-bidens-job-approval-sinking-inflation-crime-covid/story?id=81701113   David’s Twitter: @DavidBeckworth David’s blog: http://macromarketmusings.blogspot.com/