I don't think the Return of Inflation will last very long. What we are seeing now is the effect of both all the COVID cash that was pushed into people's pockets, and a jobs situation in which anyone can get a somewhat decent-paying jobs - i.e., folks that had been struggling since the Great Recession both having little savings and precarious job security have finally reached a state of financial stability so that they can spend - and of course all the supply disruptions making the amount of goods for sales scarce compared to the amount of cash chasing those good (which is what economics textbooks say cause inflation).
Regarding the job situation, we are at unique point in the demographic stage where the peak of the Baby Boom is at retirement age, and their leaving the job force is overwhelming the number of Zoomers aging into the employment market - and soon, we'll be heading into the demographic stage in which it will be the Baby Bust Gen-Xers retiring, and so there will no longer be an imbalance. Also, all that cash that had been built up will eventually run out, so employees won't be as picky. Oh, and corporations will be onboarding worker efficiency initiatives the whole time. Finally, the Mother of All Employment Busts will be soon upon us once the driverless car becomes a reality. recession will tamper the current employment fever
Regarding inflation, the high wages due to the tight labor market is one major factor, but the only other major factors are housing & energy.
Housing inflation has been off-the-charts due to rock-bottom interest rates, and as those rates go up, down will go the housing prices. The rise in rent, while somewhat connected to the housing market, is a bit of an enigma, but it's due to investors not wanting to build apartments (or detached housing meant for renting) as well as anti-growth policies in high-cost cities; I think that the demand curve for rentals has higher elasticity that it would seem, as folks can cram more tightly into apartments, or even go back and live with parents, if unemployment ratchets up.
Energy inflation is due to a few things, starting with Americans getting used to lower fuel prices a few years back and buying clown-car SUVs as a result, but also because of supply restriction. Yes, the Russo-Ukrainian War is causing restriction, but I think an even bigger part of the story is the unwinding of the shale-oil boom and the fact that oil-production/refinery investors have finally come to consider oil & ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) automobiles to be a sunset industry, and thus unworthy of a lot of capital development - and they are more than happy to just sit back and reap the benefits of low supply & high prices. But lower-cost renewable energy is destined to hit the market in the not too distant future.
Taken as a whole, I think we will see the return of a stagnating employment market (and office workers WILL need to go back to the office), but with more abundance. Guaranteed Income will come about at some point; I think it will happen soon after the driverless car takes away the ability for folks to hustle in the Uber & delivery market.
As for the sexual market, with the liberalization of cannabis, folks might look at the equally victimless crime of prostitution so that we see some liberalization there; women wanting to earn the easiest way they can
will start getting their voices heard about decriminalizing that, at least allowing chicks to serve clients in their home. As for the dating market, I don't think the overall economic situation will become so bad that women start preferring Betas to Chads
, so it's still going to be OVER for those men in which it is OVER already.