New Delhi, Oct. 16 -- As pile-ups of sovereign debt scale new peaks in rich economies, a question that has the air of an elephant in the room has arisen. Will policymakers, willy-nilly, inflate their burden away by letting inflation rip?

In the US, the cost of living rose 3.7% in September over the previous year, up from 3.4% in August. It's the US Fed's job to rein this variable back to its 2% target, but the White House seems to see no case for the central bank to hike lending rates to that end. Although the Fed went for a defiant hike last month, how this stand-off plays out is under global watch, given the dollar's centrality to the world of finance.

In contrast, the Eurozone has a structural advantage on price stability. While euro...