In Sydney on a Friday in late September 2026, Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock told lawmakers that the inflation risks her institution had been monitoring were no longer distant possibilities — they had begun to arrive, carried in on the winds of Middle East conflict and the global scramble to build artificial intelligence infrastructure. Three rate hikes this year have brought Australia's cash rate to its highest point since the pandemic, yet the central bank finds itself in the uncomfortable position of not knowing whether that is enough. It is a moment familiar to every ge