The national average gasoline price hit $4.52 per gallon on May 11, up from $3.14 a year ago, according to the American Automobile Association. (Ariana Drehsler/Bloomberg)Last July, I made the case in this magazine that a new form of stagflation, which I called stagflation lite, was on the horizon for the U.S. economy. Economic growth would slow as inflation rose due to a softening labor force, upward pressures on wage growth, and tariffs. Still, I wrote, “the prospect of galloping, 1970s-style inflation remains low.”