      The topic of inflation has dominated the financial markets rangingfrom currencies to bonds, futures, equities, and commodities. I canremember when a 5.2-percent inflation rate shocked the financial markets inthe United States. In the late 1997 market, a sub 5.0-percent inflationrate was of little concern to anyone. The introduction of powerfulcomputers has enabled companies to realize economies of scale createdthrough mergers and acquisitions. Because of this shift, in conjunctionwith sophisticated modeling techniques that the Federal Reserve now uses togauge and control inflation, today's economy appears to be capable ofwarding off inflation. Some swear that the days of inflation are over.Others believe that we can better manage inflation, but that it does, andalways will, exist. I believe the latter sentiment to be the mostrealistic.