] One of the dirtiest words in the economic lexicon is
] making the rounds again: stagflation.
]
] Defined as a noxious blend of stagnant growth and rising
] prices, stagflation last appeared in force in the 1970s,
] when it bedeviled U.S. policy makers and gradually
] degraded the standard of living of average Americans.
] Economists long thought a repeat to be extremely
] unlikely.
]
] But now, they are starting to worry again. The
] fundamental problem: Oil prices are kicking up inflation
] across the world, at precisely the same time that
] economic growth appears to be slowing. If oil prices keep
] climbing, and inflation rates exceed growth rates, some
] economists say the U.S., Asia and other regions could
] face a troubling scenario in which policy makers have to
] fight some of the same demons that plagued the U.S. back
] in the days of disco.
]
] "Oil at $45 a barrel is a stagflation problem," warned
] economists at UBS Ltd. in a recent research report. By
] their reckoning, sustained prices at that level would
] slow global growth rates by almost half a percentage
] point in 2005 and by about one percentage point in 2006.
] Perhaps more important, such prices would push inflation
] up by about the same amount -- giving the world its first
] taste in years of what stagflation can be like.

[ Awesome. Seriously su-par. -k]