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Mark Gongloff

The Fed Has Two Jobs, And It Is Failing At Both Of Them

HuffingtonPost.com | Mark Gongloff | Posted 05.16.2013 | Business

When it comes to monetary policy, the Federal Reserve has just two jobs, and it's failing at both of them. The Fed has a dual mandate to promote ma...

Did This Investigative Story Forecast The Texas Explosion?

Center for Public Integrity | Jim Morris and Chris Hamby | Posted 04.18.2013 | Politics

CPI Editor’s note, April 18: An explosion Wednesday at a fertilizer plant north of Waco, Texas, killed between five and 15 people, authorities say, ...

Chained CPI Is a Fraud: Set Constant Dollar COLA, Not Percent COLA

Susan Rhea | Posted 04.17.2013 | Politics
Susan Rhea

The president is asking Congress to change the way cost of living adjustments are determined so corporations, Wall Street financiers, and others in the top 10 percent don't see an income tax increase, closure of tax loopholes, or reduced income deductions.

Dear Congress: A Vote for the Chained CPI Is a Vote to Cut Social Security Benefits

Eric Kingson | Posted 02.27.2013 | Politics
Eric Kingson

A typical Social Security retiree would lose roughly $500 in benefits at age 75 under the chained CPI as compared to the current law; $1,000 in their 85th year and $1,500 at age 90.

Eggs, Legs and the Chained CPI

Benjamin Todd Jealous | Posted 02.20.2013 | Politics
Benjamin Todd Jealous

As the fiscal cliff approaches, I am reminded of an old country adage about sacrifice. Simply put, we should not tell people making $250,000 or $350,000 they can keep their "eggs" if the alternative is to ask people who rely on social security for survival to give up their "legs."

Politics Aside, the Good and Bad Economics of Chained CPI

Jodi Beggs | Posted 02.16.2013 | Business
Jodi Beggs

Much has been written recently about the potential adoption of a "chained consumer price index" as the official measure of inflation and cost of living increases for the purposes of calculating government benefits, boundaries between tax brackets, and so on.

Arcane Inflation Measure May Be Key To Fiscal Cliff Deal

The Huffington Post | Joe Van Brussel | Posted 11.09.2012 | Business

As people in Washington resume their pursuit of freaking out the populace with threats to plunge over the "fiscal cliff" -– the package of spending ...

"Path to Prosperity?" For Many Senior Citizens, VP Pick Ryan's Plan Would Be Path to the Poorhouse

Wendell Potter | Posted 08.11.2012 | Politics
Wendell Potter

Under the privatized Medicare program Ryan envisions, the effect of the cost-shifting strategy would be disastrous for the growing number of senior citizens who are finding that every year they have less and less money to make ends meet.

No Price Like Home

Evan Soltas | Posted 10.01.2012 | Business
Evan Soltas

The Federal Reserve has been mis-measuring inflation for years. And there's a compelling case that its mis-measurement led, albeit indirectly, to the housing boom and bust, and therefore to the 2008 recession.

Hurdles Block Important Access Laws

State Integrity Investigation | Caitlin Ginley | Posted 06.01.2012 | Politics

Early last month, lawmakers in Iowa completed work on a new open records statute. Senate File 430 creates the Iowa Public Information Board, a nine-me...

$2 a Gallon Gas, Michele Bachmann? Aim Higher.

Adam Levin | Posted 10.25.2011 | Politics
Adam Levin

Michele Bachmann asserted that, if elected, she will fight to bring us back to the heady days of $2 per gallon gasoline. That's one hell of a campaign promise.

Paige Lavender

Dem Congressman Shows How New Obama Plan Slashes Social Security

HuffingtonPost.com | Paige Lavender | Posted 09.20.2011 | Politics

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) took to the House floor Wednesday to decry efforts being made by President Barack Obama and the Gang of Six ...

Americans Continue To Struggle As Fears Of Inflation Aren't Eliminated

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 09.14.2011 | Business

NEW YORK -- Gas prices fell in June, but prices for nearly everything else rose, according to figures released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistic...

Consumer Prices Fall By Most In A Year

Posted 09.14.2011 | Business

Consumer prices fell slightly more than expected in June to post their biggest drop in a year on weak gasoline costs, but underlying inflation pre...

Core Inflation Rises At Fastest Pace In Three Years

Posted 08.15.2011 | Business

Core consumer inflation rose at quickest pace in nearly three years in May and a regional manufacturing gauge contracted this month, underscoring ...

Gold May Glitter But Can It Deliver?

Gemma Godfrey | Posted 07.13.2011 | Business
Gemma Godfrey

The classic safe-haven investment has seen a strong uptrend in value since the autumn of 2008. Various factors have been credited as drivers of this move, but what is the risk gold could lose its luster?

What Macroeconomic Announcements Will Drive Returns This April?

Irene Aldridge | Posted 06.04.2011 | Business
Irene Aldridge

April is full of economic activity: finally we're out of the winter doldrums and it's just before many people follow the old adage to "sell in May and go away."

Hey Ben, Time for an Optometrist

Dan Dorfman | Posted 05.25.2011 | Business
Dan Dorfman

The government's inflation statistics are by no means alarming. The CPI in October posted an 0.2% reading, or up 1.2% year over year. Still, there's no escaping the fact that practically everybody is inundating us with higher prices.

Don't Be Fooled: Inflation Has the Upper Hand

Chris Martenson, Ph.D. | Posted 05.25.2011 | Business
Chris Martenson, Ph.D.

Here at Martenson Central, we are endlessly keeping a close eye out for the emergence of deflation, defined here as the purchasing power of the dollar going up.

What Things Cost In America: 1776 To Today

24/7 Wall St. | Posted 05.25.2011 | Business

The value of coffee has increased fifteen times from its price 234 years ago. This is a similar increase to the value of the dollar, based on the purc...

QE2 Dangerous for American Wage Earners

Robert Lenzner | Posted 05.25.2011 | Business
Robert Lenzner

A policy that makes fortunes for commodity traders, for hedge fund operators, for the gold and silver crowd while squeezing 90% of the nation is a terrible price to pay for replacing deflation with inflation.

Consumers Squeezed As Commodity Prices Jump

AP | CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER | Posted 05.25.2011 | Business

WASHINGTON — A rise in the cost of gas drove consumer prices up last month by the most in nearly a year, but overall inflation remained tame. T...

Next Stop: Inflation

James Berman | Posted 05.25.2011 | Business
James Berman

The market has had the biggest six month rally since the 1930s and stocks cannot go up forever. We can't time the sell-off, but we can prepare for one of its likely causes: inflation.

Transparency International's Corruption Index For 2009 (PHOTOS)

Posted 05.25.2011 | World

Transparency International has released its 2009 Corruption Perception Index, which focuses on corruption in the public sector and uses surveys to est...

In New York, What Goes Up Stays Up

Dan Dorfman | Posted 05.25.2011 | New York
Dan Dorfman

Is the cost of living in New York City really falling?