Koichi Hamada, professor emeritus at Yale University, was a special adviser to former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe

Until a few years ago, major economies were struggling to achieve even mild inflation, with policymakers in the US, the UK and the eurozone struggling to meet their targets of 2% annual price growth. But with the arrival and persistence of Covid-19, the world changed dramatically. Two years later, everyone is worried about soaring inflation and how it can be contained.