inflation

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Social Security Won't Get Boost in 2011

Lack of increase sets Dems up for more punishment at ballot box

(Newser) - It looks like there will be no increase in Social Security benefits for the second year in a row. The bureau plans to announce this week that inflation hasn't been high enough this year to merit a cost-of-living increase. America's 58 million Social Security recipients haven't had a raise since...

French Pol Confuses Inflation With Fellatio

Rachida Dati makes fumble on the radio

(Newser) - Paging Mrs. Malaprop: French politician Rachida Dati confused business with, ahem, pleasure yesterday during a radio interview. When asked about profiteering by overseas investment funds, she said, "I see some of them looking for returns of 20 or 25%, at a time when fellatio is almost non-existent." The...

Krugman: We're Not Bouncing Back

'Policy-makers are in denial'

(Newser) - You know that recovery officials promise is underway? It's not happening, scoffs Paul Krugman, and he blames federal officials' reluctance to take responsibility. "This isn’t a recovery, in any sense that matters. And policy-makers should be doing everything they can to change that fact," he writes in...

Fed to Meet as Economy Sputters

Central bank expected to tackle deflation danger

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve meets today to decide what medicine the wheezing American economy needs, and world markets will be keenly watching for the outcome. With no new stimulus spending from Congress likely, the central bank is the only body poised to react to signs that the recovery is running out...

US Economy Needs Less Caution, More Spending
US Economy Needs Less Caution, More Spending
Paul Krugman
May 21, 2010 11:34 AM CDT

US Economy Needs Less Caution, More Spending

Forget deficit; fret over threat of 'lost decade'

(Newser) - No matter what you've heard panicked commentators say, the US is not the next Greece, and the government is not trying to do or spend too much in the face of the slumping economy. In reality, Washington isn't doing or spending enough, and as a result, the US could be...

Fed Holds Rates at Record Lows

Bernanke & Co. want to keep driving recovery

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve is sounding a more confident note that the economy is strengthening and pledges to hold rates at record lows to make sure it gains even more traction. Wrapping up a two-day meeting today, the Fed in a 9-1 decision retained its pledge to hold rates at historic...

Kiss Cheap Credit Goodbye
 Kiss Cheap Credit Goodbye 
Apr 11, 2010 7:32 AM CDT

Kiss Cheap Credit Goodbye

For those who can't remember 1981, rates are headed up

(Newser) - There's a generation of consumers out there that can't fathom 8% interest, much less 1981's peak of 18.2%, but the days of free or cheap money are coming to a rapid close. With national debt ballooning, inflation looming, and government props that suppressed interest rates ending, the cost of...

'Inflation Hawks' Will Kill Our Recovery
'Inflation Hawks' Will Kill
Our Recovery
paul krugman
Apr 9, 2010 9:22 AM CDT

'Inflation Hawks' Will Kill Our Recovery

Beware the 'tight-money people' who fear short-term spending

(Newser) - Paul Krugman assesses the economic mess in Greece and sees "no good answers" for them but an important lesson for America. Namely, "steer clear of deflation," a horrible process that Greece must now endure because it's stuck with the euro. We don't have that problem, so let's...

Bernanke: Interest Rates May Rise

Fed chair leaves door open, but emphasizes reform

(Newser) - Ben Bernanke today left the door open to higher interest rates, saying the increase might be needed to prevent new speculative investment bubbles from forming. But for critics who blame the Fed for feeding that speculative housing boom by holding interest rates too low for too long after the 2001...

Obama's Stealth Stimulus: $250 Checks to Seniors

With social security stagnant, Obama proposes payment to elderly

(Newser) - Seniors won’t be getting a boost in their Social Security benefits this January, but President Obama tried to head off that announcement yesterday by encouraging Congress to give them all a one-time $250 check. The administration sees these payments, which would cost the government about $13 billion, as another...

Colorado Will Lower Minimum Wage
Colorado
Will Lower Minimum Wage
Oct 13, 2009 2:52 PM CDT

Colorado Will Lower Minimum Wage

State figure, tied to inflation, will drop 4 cents to $7.24

(Newser) - Colorado is set to become the first state to lower its minimum wage next year. The state’s minimum wage is tied to local inflation—specifically, the Denver-Boulder-Greeley Consumer Price Index, which has fallen 0.6%. The state’s minimum of $7.28 an hour will fall to $7.24...

Gold Prices Hit All-Time High
 Gold Prices Hit All-Time High 
$1,038 an ounce
Oct 6, 2009 12:04 PM CDT

Gold Prices Hit All-Time High

Investors hedge against inflation in all currencies

(Newser) - Gold leapt to $1,038 an ounce today, the highest price on record, as investors bet that global stimulus efforts and rate cuts will cause rampant and widespread inflation. The precious metal’s on pace for its ninth straight positive year; the previous record was set at $1,033.90...

Bernanke's Next Challenge: Undoing His Own Work

Rate cuts, other moves must eventually be reversed

(Newser) - In his first term as Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke played the role of savior, lending hundreds of billions to banks and businesses, backing the mortgage market, and cutting interest rates. In his second, Bernanke will have to turn “strict disciplinarian,” reversing earlier moves to respond to a massive...

Recession Will Pass, but Dollar May Be Doomed

(Newser) - The American economy is heading out of recession, but the long-term fate of the dollar may not be so bright, writes the Wall Street Journal. Growing numbers of economists and investors, including Warren Buffett, say that stimulus spending and rate cuts will boost inflation and weaken the greenback. At the...

Buffett: Cut Our 'Greenback Emissions'

With recovery in sight, Congress should curb deficit spending

(Newser) - Just as carbon emissions could have a dire effect on the environment, Warren Buffett thinks “greenback emissions” could wreak havoc on the economy, he writes in the New York Times. The government has spent staggering sums to avoid economic disaster, and that was wise. Now, the economy is “...

Consumer Prices Take Biggest Dip in 59 Years

(Newser) - Consumer prices have fallen 2.1% over the past year, the biggest year-over-year decline in 59 years, the Labor Department announced today. Though the Consumer Price Index was unchanged from June to July, it was drastically lower than in July 2008, when oil peaked at $147 a barrel and gas...

Deficit Tops $1T for First Time
 Deficit Tops $1T for First Time 
Jul 13, 2009 2:25 PM CDT

Deficit Tops $1T for First Time

(Newser) - Nine months into the fiscal year, the federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time. The imbalance is intensifying fears about higher interest rates and inflation; there's also concern about trying to reverse the deficit—by reducing government spending or raising taxes—in the midst of a harsh...

It's Too Soon for Feds to Ease Up on Economy
It's Too Soon for Feds to Ease Up on Economy
OPINION
Jun 15, 2009 9:42 AM CDT

It's Too Soon for Feds to Ease Up on Economy

If Washington cuts off the cash, recession will worsen: Krugman

(Newser) - With critics prematurely calling on Washington to scale back financial rescue efforts, economic history fans see “déjà vu all over again,” writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. This is the third time a major economy has been stuck in a liquidity trap, and both previous...

Economists See High Unemployment Through 2010

(Newser) - Economists think the US unemployment rate will stay above 9% through 2010, the Wall Street Journal survey finds. Accordingly, those in the know believe the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates down at least through spring. “For real people, there is no recovery until the unemployment rate stabilizes,”...

Burgeoning Interest Rates Threaten to Stifle Recovery

Demand for refinancing shrivels as 30-year rates hit 5.75%

(Newser) - The steady rise in interest rates over recent weeks is threatening to trample the green shoots of recovery in the housing market, the Wall Street Journal reports. Rates on 30-year mortgages hit 5.79% yesterday, more than a point above the 4.75% "trigger" level analysts say spurred the...

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