Austerity, Oil Prices Helping Put the 'Stag' in 'Stagflation'

If you listen closely enough, you can hear the stagflation storm brewing across the economy. It’s the sound of rising prices and weak economic growth conspiring to create the Federal Reserve’s worst enemy. Friday’s lame GDP print exemplified where we’re heading, with the economy gaining just 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 no matter how much government economists tried to talk up the robust corporate balance sheet and supposed gains in employment.