Why it matters: It is a pick-your-poison environment for the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve, who face public discontent over economic conditions — and the risk that discontent would only get worse if the alternative was a new recession.

The inflationary pressures from strained supply chains and labor shortages look likely to persist through 2022 and maybe beyond.

But the measures that would be needed to bring inflation down more rapidly would risk sending the economy into a tailspin.

The big picture: In the decades after World War II, episodes of inflation have ended when the Fed took steps to tighten the money supply, causing recessions.