The Financial Post reports in its Wednesday, March 20, edition that inflation data in the United States showed prices were rising faster than analysts had expected, an outcome that bolsters the case for keeping interest rates higher for longer. A Financial Times dispatch to the Post reports that at one point last year, "higher for longer" were the three scariest words in the English language for investors. This time around, however, government bonds wobbled only slightly and both U.S. and global stocks held it together near record highs. This is a sign that interest rates are shedding their suffocating dominance over global markets, and that stocks are climbing not because they are huffing the speculative fumes of imminent and aggressive potential rate cuts, but because they are worth it. We are in a new era where the apparent need to keep interest rates high in an effort to suppress inflation is a bullish signal for risky assets such as stocks. JPMorgan analyst Karen Ward says, "I'm surprised when investors are still so nervous about rates staying high." She adds: "Zero-interest rates were a sign of the ill health of the economy. Rates were low because economies were really struggling. Good riddance."