If consumer inflation is to ebb, the first signs may come from far away from store shelves. Consumer prices are surging by their fastest annual rate in 40 years. With January’s 7.5% jump from a year ago, annual consumer inflation has been increasing by more than 5% for the past eight months, something shoppers haven’t experienced since 1979. Bond prices have dropped, interest rates have risen, and the stock market has been volatile as investors grapple with the Federal Reserve’s coming change to begin raising its target short-term interest rate in the effort to fight off inflation from becomin…