Some countries have tried intermediate regimes such as managed pegs, but these regimes have often broken down. Let me stress just one central point in this extensive debate. Monetary policy needs an anchor. When fixed exchange rates covered the whole world, that anchor was maintaining currency parities, or keeping all exchange rates stable.
If that outcome materializes, the prices of gasoline and heating oil are likely to flatten out fairly soon, and retail food prices are likely to continue rising briskly for only a few more months. Consequently, the direct effects of the surge in commodity prices on headline consumer inflation should diminish sharply over coming months.