What is happening with inflation in the US, and how worried should you be?

Why prices are rising, how long this might last, and why inflation is a psychological as well as an economic phenomenon

Jobs are coming back, wages are rising, stock markets are hitting record highs. In many ways, the US economy is booming. And yet as we officially enter the holiday season, consumer confidence is at its lowest level in a decade. The reason? Inflation.

The US inflation rate in October was the highest it has been since the early 90s, when Nirvana released Smells Like Teen Spirit and the Gulf war was just beginning.