Stagflation redux: The seventies are back!

Dig out your lava lamps and put on your pukka-shell necklaces. While some of the 1970's cultural excesses, like vomit-orange cars and pea-green appliances, might never return, one of the dominant cultural forces of the denim decade may be on its way back.

Stagflation.

Stagflation, which is on the official list of "most awkward portmanteaux ever," combines the words "stagnation" and "inflation." Essentially, it refers to an economy that is experiencing an economic slowdown or recession (generally measured in unemployment or wages), coupled with an inflation in the cost of consumer goods.