The sudden swings in U.S. stock prices over the past two months may be making you a little dizzy.

After last touching an all-time high in early February, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO 0.11%) went on to fall roughly 9% over the next two months, its biggest drawdown in about a year. Since then, the exchange-traded fund, which tracks the broad-market S&P 500 index, has climbed all the way back and begun to set new all-time highs again in just three weeks.

This period, though, hasn’t just been a roller coaster ride for investors. It has also featured events that meaningfully changed the trajectory of the U.S. economy. And not for the better.

• In February, the annualized inflation rate in the U.S. was 2.4%. For April, the Cleveland Fed is…