If you're at a party and the subject of the economy comes up, it's easy to sound like you know what you're talking about: Just drop the phrase "the return of stagflation" — a phenomenon not seen, and not missed, since the 1970s and early 1980s. With unemployment and gas prices climbing, you're not likely to get an argument.

Even Ben Bernanke is paying heed to that concern. This week, the Fed chairman pledged that "we will not countenance building inflationary expec ...

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