Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey warns hyperinflation will hit US ‘soon’

Americans paying more at grocery stores and fuel pumps amid supply chain bottleneck

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has predicted that the US could soon be hit by “hyperinflation” and warned that it “is going change everything”.

The tech entrepreneur took to Twitter to discuss the situation as consumer prices have continued to spike in the US amid rapid inflation.

When his followers asked Mr Dorsey, who is also the CEO of digital payment company Square, for more information, he added: “It will happen in the US soon, and so the world.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said last week that inflation pressures “are likely to last longer than previously expected”, and could last “well into next year”.

Americans are paying more at the grocery store and at the gas pump amid high energy demand, millions of people quitting their jobs and a supply chain bottleneck at US ports.

Part of that bottleneck has been caused by trucking companies being unable to hire enough workers in a labour market depressed by the pandemic.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Sunday that she believes inflation levels will decrease to an acceptable level in the latter part of 2022.

Inflation was 5.4 per cent at the end of September and she told CNN’s Jake Tapper that it would not be back to the 2 per cent range until next year.

She told Mr Tapper that the US is not losing control of inflation but acknowledged that the spike in prices  is “something that’s obviously a concern.”

Hyperinflation is a term used to describe when inflation, which is the price of goods and services, rises at an uncontrollable rate over a period of time.

Typically, hyperinflation sees the rate of inflation rise by 50 per cent each month.

The consumer price index measures the average price of consumer products and services, such as food, medical care or transport.

The index was up by 0.4 per cent last month, 0.1 per cent higher than forecasted, for a year-on-year increase of 5.4 per cent compared to 2020.

Bacon was up by 19 per cent in price, beef 17 per cent, gasoline by 42 per cent and used cars by 24 per cent from September 2020 to September 2021.