Over the course of my hour-long conversation with Isabella Weber, the University of Massachusetts Amherst economist continued to resist the urge to say, “I told you so.” But such a declaration would have been well warranted.

With just days to go in 2021, Weber made waves both inside and outside the academy with the publication of a short article in the Guardian entitled “Could strategic price controls help fight inflation?” At a time when inflation was nearing a forty-year high, Weber thought she was asking a reasonable question. The entire political spectrum seemingly disagreed. The National Review called her ideas “perverse.” The New York Times’ Paul Krugman was only a bit more generous — he called her “truly stupid.”

During the last few years, Weber hasn’t gotten apologies from her early critics, but she has gotten an audience in the mainstream press, among policymakers, and even with the general public.