Their inflation, our inflation.

"The next economic downturn has become the most anticipated recession in recent US history. It also keeps getting postponed," wrote Nick Timiraos. "The government's stimulus measures left household and business finances in unusually strong shape." In March 2020, the US government handed out $1200 to every adult earning less than $75,000 per year and $500 per dependent. In December 2020, $600 to individuals and dependents. And in March 2021, $1400 to every individual and dependent. CNBC. In India, the share of indirect taxation has increased to over 50% of the government's tax revenues. TOI. Around 63 million people filed income tax returns in 2019-20. In 2018-19, 40% of those who filed returns, or 55 million people, had no tax liability and only 33 million paid any income tax. Indians just do not earn enough.  The government earned more from taxes on petroleum products during the Covid years. From Rs 1.3 trillion  in 2014-15, taxes collected on petroleum products rose to Rs 4.3 trillion in 2021-22. TOI. Not only has the government raised taxes, "There has been a rise of 133 percent of major cess and surcharges levied by the Central government on various products during the five year period between 2017-18 and 2022-23." ET. Adding insult to injury, as it were. In the US, retail sales rose 3% in January, easily topping the Dow Jones estimate, the Commerce Department reported. CNBC. "The January jobs report showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 517,000, far higher than the 187,000 market estimate." CNBC. "Layoffs rose to a two-year high in January and job cuts were higher than initially thought in 2022." Reuters. "Nevertheless, the labor market remains strong, with 1.9 job openings per every unemployed person, down from 2.0 in December." In India, the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) showed "that the unemployment rate in 2021-22 was recorded at 4.1%, lower than the 5.8% witnessed in 2018-19." The Wire. However, the share of agriculture in overall employment rose from 42.5% in 2018-19 to 45.5% in 2021-22. "People move to farming when no jobs are available in the markets." "Private equity and venture capital (PE/VC) funding to India's startup ecosystem fell 77 percent from a year earlier, as investors continued treading cautiously amid macroeconomic uncertainties." moneycontrol. "The Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates more than expected in response to recent strong data and is prepared to move in larger steps if the 'totality' of incoming information suggests tougher measures are needed to control inflation, Fed Chair Jerome Powell told US lawmakers." Reuters. Higher interest rates in the US will strengthen the dollar which will increase the price of imports into India, and the weakness of the global economy and the war in Ukraine will limit exports, wrote Andy Mukherjee. "The stagflation risks - heightened by the co-movement of commodity prices and the dollar over the last two years - may not have had the same deleterious impact on India as its smaller neighbors. But they haven't exactly left 1.4 billion people unscathed." A strong dollar may help Americans by making imports cheaper while high taxes and rising prices make life miserable for Indians. Stagflation isn't unthinkable.