Brazil's hyperinflation sent this American visitor scrambling

As the specter of inflation swirls around us and random supply chain challenges continue to disrupt the status quo, I am reminded of living in Brazil in the 1980s, where inflation ran rampant and supply chain disruptions were a way of life.

In 1986, I was playing professional basketball for the town of Rio Claro, a two-hour drive from Sao Paulo. It was a largely agrarian community, not unlike many in Iowa, except that the crops dominating the picturesque landscape were sugarcane and oranges.