Reflationistas beware as global price revival belies risks ahead

HONG KONG: From goods leaving the factory floor in China’s industrial towns to gasoline at the pump in Europe and America, prices that stayed low for years are finally going up. So that’s a good sign, right?

After a period of central bankers fretting about deflation and resorting to bizarre techniques like negative rates to respond, the easy answer is “yes.” But whether faster price gains mean that the world is finally healing from the Great Recession may be revealed only by what happens next.