How did we get to today's supply chain mess?

The supply chain mess is hitting all of us. Inflation is now the highest it's been in over 30 years.

The costs of food, gas and housing are going through the roof. What's more, almost everything made outside of America is now in short supply — like semiconductors for our cars.

Why is this happening? A lot of it has to do with the pandemic. Asian factories had to shut down or thought there would be less demand for their stuff. So did shipping companies. But then online shopping surged, and now there's a lot of pent-up demand to spend all the cash we saved during COVID.

But it's not just the pandemic. Before COVID, companies kept limited inventories to save costs and fatten up profit margins. And now we're all suffering the consequences.

Watch this episode of GZERO World with Ian Bremmer: Inflation nation: What's driving US prices higher?

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