It's the uncertainty that makes inflation terrible

This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an obese pigeon full of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. Sign up here.Today’s Agenda Inflation is getting wors [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an obese pigeon full of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - Inflation is [getting worse](. - The office [needs to work]( for you. - [Jet fuel]( just one-upped your gas bill. - [China]( is just one of many polluters. What to Expect When You’re Expecting … More Inflation There’s a laminated sign pinned to the fence of my local park that reads: “What comes up must come down. Please don’t feed the birds.” Sadly, the sign is pretty ineffective. Birds prey on the leftover French fries of careless humans; half-eaten falafel and pizza crusts beckon already-obese pigeons to have a third lunch. It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet for birds, and that’s why it’s nearly always a certified, ahem, crapstorm in New York City. For the past two years, humanity has been metaphorically feeding the economy all sorts of inadvisable substances. A deadly cocktail consisting of a pandemic, a supply-chain crunch, a meme-stock craze and a literal war has naturally caused a bit of bloating. But what started as a temporary tummy ache is now [a full-blown appendicitis emergency](. Societal costs are inflated beyond repair, from rents to food prices and everything in between. John Authers notes that “[price increases are digging in and broadening](,” which is just a nice way of saying that sky-high price stickers on things like used cars and trucks are giving way to a broader, more widespread inflation that is anything but transitory. Expect your [dog’s sighs]( to get a lot more pronounced in the coming months: Lots of people are [eye-rolling]( at the prospect of a pUtiN PrICe H!Ke causing the latest bout of inflation, but perhaps everyone just needs to stop pointing fingers and get over it! Allison Schrager says [higher inflation isn’t a death sentence](. The big issue is the uncertainty it creates. Am I going to miss my best friend’s wedding because the plane ticket is over $1,500? Should I order 50 boxes of dried pasta on Amazon now, before it’s too late? All of this confusion and uncertainty causes people to dial back on their purchases, which causes yet another boo-boo for the already-injured economy. Andrea Felsted believes that [companies risk making matters worse by being overly pessimistic](. British grocer Tesco is *frantically waves arms* warning about the coming “cost-of-living crisis,” saying that 2023 will be absolutely dreadful, a prophecy that just might come true if it keeps crying wolf. Bonus Inflation Reading: - New global economy, who dis? [It’s time for a new rulebook](. — Gary Shilling - Inflation isn’t about to take [LVMH’s thousand-dollar handbags]( off the menu for the rich. — Andrea Felsted RTC (Return to Closet) And now for your regularly scheduled RTO programming. Managers are itching to have all of their direct reports back under their watchful eye to make sure “To-The-Moon Tony” doesn't spend 42 minutes chatting with his buddies on Discord about [grilled tendies & roasted hedgies](. But Sarah Green Carmichael writes that “[9 out of 10 people working remotely would like to continue to do so at least some of the time.](” Who are these people, and what have they done to the go-getting, by-the-bootstraps breed of Americans who craved face time almost as much as they craved Diet Coke? Maybe they … changed their minds? Here’s the thing: Office life can be kinda miserable! I’m no stranger to this, and you probably aren’t, either. Throughout my career, I’ve worked from and eaten lunch at: - Makeshift desks in hallways - Storage rooms - Closets-turned-workstations - Windowless offices To get people back in the office, CEOs need to tone down their crooning about all the ~mentoring~ and ~idea generation~ and ~synergies~ that occur once you’re in the office … because a lot of those things are either nonexistent or they don’t help the business! Sarah charts out the facts: - Open offices are associated with less collaboration, not more. - Only about half of employees actually have mentors. - A focus on “company culture” often leads to everyone wearing the same Patagonia vests. “It might be more persuasive to acknowledge that the office hasn’t been all that beneficial for a lot of employees — and to focus instead on making it better,” Sarah writes. Companies would be wise to make the office a place where people want to show up. Company culture does not, and will never, thrive in a sunless closet. No amount of [marching band performances]( will change that. Telltale Charts When the pandemic began, airlines could secure a gallon of jet fuel in New York for just 27 cents. Fast-forward to 2022, and the cost of a gallon has multiplied by 28 times (!!!) to $7.61. Javier Blas writes that [these insane prices are screwing up virtually everything in the skies](, from commercial airline costs to supply chains that rely on planes to move goods. Continuing the topsy-turvy post-pandemic trend is the city of London, which somehow managed to clock worse pollution levels than Beijing last month. The head-scratching fact isn’t all that surprising to Justin Fox, who explains that [the Big Smoke’s foray into the pollution hall of fame isn’t an anomaly](. These days, there are a bunch of big cities that rank far above China: Further Reading [Delta Air Lines and Fastenal]( thank you for your unwavering desire to take a vacation. — Brooke Sutherland [Jamie Dimon is no clairvoyant](, but (surprise!) he remains optimistic about people’s capacity to spend money. — Paul J. Davies Russians might not have news, but they have friends. And word [travels fast](. — Leonid Bershidsky What would France look like under [Marine Le Pen’s leadership](? Take Emmanuel Macron’s vision and flip it upside-down. — Bobby Ghosh New York’s governorship is tainted by scandal. Voters deserve to know [whether Kathy Hochul is above the fray](. — Bloomberg’s editorial board If the [NBA can find such historically talented players](, what’s stopping other parts of the world from doing the same? — Tyler Cowen For Malaysian voters, [1MDB is a stain of the past](. — Daniel Moss We have no clue [if Donald Trump is going to run in 2024](, but he sure is acting like it. — Jonathan Bernstein Give me an E! Give me an S! Give me a G! What does that spell? [More misinformed babble about ESG’s political crusade](! — Nir Kaissar China’s latest wave of lockdowns is making the world realize that [concentrated supply chains are a no good, very bad idea](. — Tim Culpan ICYMI TikTok tries out a [dislike button](. Why have [tax audits for the poor doubled](? The IRS is in the hot seat. How a [laser-eyed Jack Dorsey]( went from Twitter CEO to a full-time Bitcoin bro. Kickers The birthplace of [Warren Buffett’s business empire]( is for sale. Why am I smelling cheesecake? [The scratch-and-sniff era of ads has arrived](. It’s illegal to own poisonous snakes in Maryland, [and yet]( ... Climate change might have [altered human evolution](. Notes:  Please send cheesecake and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like Bloomberg Opinion Today? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com and get much, much more](. You’ll receive our unmatched global news coverage and two in-depth daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close.  Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022