inflation

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Greenspan Attacks Bush, GOP
Greenspan Attacks Bush, GOP
Sep 15, 2007 7:44 AM CDT

Greenspan Attacks Bush, GOP

Former Fed Chair decries Republican economic policies

(Newser) - Former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan lambastes President Bush and his own party  for disastrous economic policies in a memoir published next week. He criticizes the GOP for abandoning fiscal restraint while it had control of both Congress and the White House, the Wall Street Journal reports. Republicans in Congress, he...

Health Insurance Premiums Soar
Health Insurance Premiums Soar
Sep 12, 2007 1:19 AM CDT

Health Insurance Premiums Soar

Costs outpace wage hikes for 8 years running

(Newser) - Health insurance premiums zoomed 6.1% this year, far outrunning inflation and worker earnings, a new study has found. Since 2001, premiums for family coverage have risen 78% percent, while wages have increased by only 19% and inflation by 17%, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey shows. Still, this year's hike...

Soaring Inflation Rocks China
Soaring Inflation Rocks China
Sep 11, 2007 3:36 AM CDT

Soaring Inflation Rocks China

Food prices feeding public unrest

(Newser) - China's soaring inflation rate is the highest in a decade, putting pressure on the central bank to hike interest rates for the fifth time in six months to cool China's superheated economy. Food prices have jumped 18%, raising fears of public unrest., Bloomberg reports. Consumer prices rose across the board...

China's Malls Beg for Shoppers
China's Malls Beg for Shoppers
Aug 28, 2007 1:44 PM CDT

China's Malls Beg for Shoppers

China’s mall explosion may mimic US mortgages

(Newser) - The malls keep going up in China, but the number of mallrats isn't keeping up with them. Indications abound of retail real-estate bubble, the Christian Science Monitor reports, but warnings to banks about loaning to malls aren’t halting new construction. Consumption is only 37% of Chinese output—half the...

Iraq's Upper Class Flees
Iraq's Upper Class Flees
Aug 20, 2007 4:08 PM CDT

Iraq's Upper Class Flees

2M Iraqi refugees flood surrounding region

(Newser) - More than 2 million Iraqis have left home, mostly crossing the borders into neighboring Jordan and Syria. And the upper class has been the first to go—robbing the country of the doctors, engineers and government officials necessary to rebuild it. With one of ten Iraqis living abroad, the war...

Inflation Softened in July
Inflation Softened in July
Aug 15, 2007 9:52 AM CDT

Inflation Softened in July

Housing slump, fuel prices weaken spending

(Newser) - Consumer prices in the US in July rose at the slowest rate in eight months. The housing slump—and fuel costs—have weakened consumer spending considerably, forcing retailers to slash prices, Bloomberg reports.  Prices rose only rose 0.1% in July, as predicted by analysts. Yields of U.S....

Inflation Eases, Trade Deficit Narrows

New data is mostly positive, and unlikely to influence interest rates

(Newser) - With the exception of energy and food, inflation at the wholesale level rose less than expected last month, while the US trade deficit got slimmer, thanks to an increase in exports. Still, a rise in energy costs in July led to an unexpected .06% uptick in the producer price index...

Four in 10 US Kids Can Balance Books

First national test reveals exposure to economic ideas

(Newser) - A new national test reveals that four in 10 U.S. high school students can grasp economic concepts like tariffs, banking and investment—a result that one expert says is “not discouraging.” Results showed that three in five students can point to factors that increase national debt while...

Fed Stands Pat on Prime Rate
Fed Stands Pat on Prime Rate
Aug 7, 2007 2:30 PM CDT

Fed Stands Pat on Prime Rate

Central bank's top priority remains curbing inflation

(Newser) - The Fed today kept its benchmark interest rate steady at 5.25%, despite concerns that tightening credit will lead to an economic downturn. It's the ninth consecutive time the Fed has left the prime rate unchanged, the Times reports, and a sign that Ben Bernanke's top priority is curbing inflation...

Productivity Up, But Inflation Still Looms

Escalating cost of labor helps drag down growing economy

(Newser) - US productivity increased last quarter, but analysts are still worried about the economy’s ability to grow while keeping inflation at bay. Nonfarm business productivity rose by 1.8%, beating the first quarter’s rate of 0.7%, but the government was forced to lower productivity estimates for previous years,...

Jobless Rate Rises While GDP Rebounds

Economic growth balances looming threat of inflation

(Newser) - The unemployment rate increased slightly in the second quarter, but the GDP recovered after a lackluster first quarter, providing Wall Street with a mixed report card of the nation’s economy as the Fed meets to determine interest rates. Unemployment ticked up 0.1% to 4.6%, hastened by losses...

Snubbing the West, Bolivia Waxes Red

Country turns to Chávez, socialism, in lieu of IMF cash

(Newser) - Bolivia’s populist president is traveling his country handing out aid—straight from his anti-American neighbor Hugo Chávez. The Washington Post reports that Evo Morales has been taking more than a cue from Chávez, using the Venezuelan leader's cash to fund social welfare programs and build clinics and...

Price Cuts Ruin Zimbabwe's Economy
Price Cuts Ruin Zimbabwe's Economy
Aug 2, 2007 10:53 AM CDT

Price Cuts Ruin Zimbabwe's Economy

Mugabe's radical 'solution' to spiraling inflation backfires

(Newser) - A radical attempt to curb Zimbabwe's hyper-inflation by cutting prices up to 50% has backfired on President Robert Mugabe's government, which is now teetering on the brink of collapse, the New York Times reports. Store shelves are empty; bread, sugar, and cornmeal, the staples of Zimbabwean's diet, are depleted.

Consumer Confidence Rises
Consumer Confidence Rises
Jul 31, 2007 4:18 PM CDT

Consumer Confidence Rises

Shoppers buying again after June slump

(Newser) - Consumer spending rose more than expected this month, to its highest level in 6 years, after shoppers tightened their belts in June, Bloomberg reports. Consumer confidence jumped 7.3 points according to a Conference Board index, suggesting the slump was temporary. Economists chalk up the spending jump to low unemployment...

5 Reasons to Think Bearish
5 Reasons to Think Bearish
Jul 22, 2007 8:29 AM CDT

5 Reasons to Think Bearish

Despite record growth, Wall Street has plenty of cause for concern, Business Week says

(Newser) - Wall Street is giddy with low unemployment, optimistic earnings predictions, and a resilient economy, but BusinessWeek lists five things for investors to worry about.
  1. Volatility in earnings, especially tech companies
  2. Consumer spending, as gas prices take their toll
  3. Inflation, which could prompt the fed to raise interest rates
  4. Subprime aftereffects,
...

Zimbabwe Arrests Dozens in Price Wars

Businesses flout strict cost-control laws as inflation passes 3,700%

(Newser) - Police in Zimbabwe have arrested 1,328 businesspeople, including 33 top executives, for violating official price controls installed to curb uncontrollable currency devaluation. The new regulations demand that many goods' prices be cut in half in response to inflation that has now risen to more than 3,700%.

Stock Sell-Off Rings Out 2nd Quarter

Markets dip, inflation cools, oil prices soar as Fed plays wait-and-see

(Newser) - Stocks slipped slightly today as the tumultuous second quarter ended in a cloud of uncertainty and contradictory economic reports. The Dow fell 13.66 to close at 13,408.62, up over 1,000 points since April, after an early surge in response to optimistic inflation and construction-spending reports. But...

CPI Registers Spring Spike
CPI Registers Spring Spike
Jun 15, 2007 11:06 AM CDT

CPI Registers Spring Spike

Energy, food drive big May bump in consumer spending as core inflation stays cool

(Newser) - The consumer price index jumped 0.7% in May, riding high energy prices to its second-biggest spike in 16 years. But the volatile food and energy sectors appeared not to disrupt the rest of the economy, MarketWatch reports. The core CPI, which excludes food and gas prices, rose only 0....

Collapse Looms in Zimbabwe
Collapse Looms in Zimbabwe
Jun 14, 2007 9:56 AM CDT

Collapse Looms in Zimbabwe

Economy may dissolve within six months as inflation spirals

(Newser) - Zimbabwe could suffer a full structural collapse in the next few months, the BBC reports. According to a memo distributed to aid workers, shops may resort to barter and utilities may shut down entirely in the country, on account of unbridled inflation that's already the world's highest at 3,714%.

Paulson Resists Labeling China a 'Manipulator'

Congress stews as Beijing keeps yuan weak vs. dollar

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has denied congressional requests for a formal accusation of currency manipulation against China, the Wall Street Journal reports. China's tight restrictions have kept the yuan artificially low against the dollar for decades, but recent record highs, combined with signs that Beijing may plan to let up...

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