ECB Doomed As Inflation Hits New Record, Growth Slows

A week of disconcerting inflation data out of Europe culminated Friday in another record high headline print on the bloc-wide gauge. Consumer prices in the euro-area rose 8.6% YoY last month (figure below), preliminary data showed. That was more than the 8.5% economists expected. The median estimate from forecasters has consistently trailed the headline for most of the past year, underscoring both the futility of forecasting and the persistent nature of the inflationary impulse. The core measu