The UK is in the throes of the kind of labour unrest not seen for decades. This is visible in the railways, London Underground and British Airways. Teachers and other public sector workers may join in. The explanation for this is clear. Unanticipated inflation delivers losses everybody wants to recoup. This triggers social conflict.

Yet if inflation is bad, so is the cure. Unless one believes it will magically disappear, the way to end entrenched inflation is via a period of below trend output and rising unemployment. This will be “stagflation” — a combination of high inflation with weak growth that lasts for some time and might require more than one tightening before it ends.

Start with the inflationary process itself: how far is the inflation imported and how far is it due to excessive domestic demand?