Inflation ahead? Even a top economist says it’s complicated

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two months of sharply rising prices have raised concerns that record-high government financial aid and the Federal Reserve’s ultra-low interest rate policies — when the economy is already surging — have elevated the risk of accelerating inflation. In May, consumer prices rose 5% from a year earlier, the largest such year-over-year jump since 2008. Many economists see the recent spike as temporary. Others say they worry that higher consumer prices will persist. Jason Furman, a Harvard professor who was President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser, thinks the reality is more complicated. He does, however, lean toward the higher-inflation-will-persist camp.