Isn’t it remarkable how the outlook for our economic future has changed so dramatically in just a matter of a few months? Earlier this year, we were told that we would soon be entering a new golden era of prosperity. But now inflation and shortages are causing chaos everywhere we look.

In addition to the unprecedented backlogs that we are witnessing at our major ports, it has also become far, far more expensive to send products across the Pacific Ocean. And now the emerging global energy crisis is going to make it even more expensive to move stuff around the planet. On Monday, the price of gasoline in the United States hit a new seven-year high… $3.27 a gallon... up from $1.77 in April 2020. In addition, we just learned that US stockpiles of heating oil have hit a 20 year low…

We are entering a period of inflation that is going to absolutely shock most people. In fact, the UN says that the global price of food has already risen more than 32 percent over the past year… As I discussed yesterday, our economy is starting to break down on a very basic level. We have become so dependent on an efficient flow of goods and services, but these days there are breakdowns all over the system.