By Diwa C. Guinigundo Before the end of 2020, columnist professor Tyler Cowen in Bloomberg Opinion wrote that “it is not likely that the next major macroeconomic problem will be inflation.” At least in the US, he argued that inflation “has come in the form of lower quality, not higher prices.” His illustrations were very interesting. While schools have not increased their tuition fees, students are challenged by on-line learning. Getting treatment in a hospital or eating in a restaurant is more often than not accompanied by fear and inconvenience. We can relate to these American experiences. They are very real in the Philippines. However, there is another side to Cowen’s argument. Other economists like University of Michigan’s Justin Wolfers, writing for