Russia's central bank decided to raise rates by 6.5% this week. Such a startling move only just begins to reveal the dire circumstances Russia is facing. The Economist points out that all signs point to things getting worse in 2015. The dollar...

The Federal Reserve announced yesterday that, while "the economy is expanding at a moderate rate," it is maintaining the near-zero target interest rates. At least for the time being. The door appears to be open for a change later in the year...

Here's an idea. Forgive debt. Everybody's debt. It is a pretty old idea, actually. But now Iceland is thinking of giving it a try. And Planet Money went to Iceland to explore this key question: "What happens when you wipe debt clean?"...

After increasing every month prior this year, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers decreased 0.2% in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . In fact, this is the first decrease since April 2013. Declining energy prices, most...

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.1% in July (seasonally adjusted), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . While this was the smallest monthly increase since February, the CPI-U has been growing all year. Food prices were...

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.3% in June (seasonally adjusted), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics . The CPI-U has grown every month over the last year except for October 2013. The all items index has grown 2.1% over...

In a speech to the Utah and Montana Bankers Association yesterday, San Francisco Fed president John C. Williams addresses some of the concerns he's been hearing about the Federal Reserve's monetary policy moves. One of the concerns he hears most...

At Project Syndicate , Jeffrey Frankel writes about central bankers in emerging markets, where the tricky task of setting "en explicit target range" when the reality is that it may be a moving target. Until the currency crashes of the 1990s...

The Federal Reserve announced this week that it will continue to taper. That is, it will continue to pull back from its quantitative easing monetary policy. One trigger is, as it has been the last year or so, improved jobs data. Here is a key paragraph...

Yesterday the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors decided in their last policy meeting of the year to keep the target range for federal funds--aka, the benchmark interest rate--between 0 and 1/4 percent. Their reasoning, at least publicly, appears...

Well, isn't this a change. At this year's annual World Economic Forum in Davos, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi spoke about reduced risks and "dramatic recovery" in Europe's economies. In this interview with Philipp...

Paul Volcker believes the Fed is at a "crossroads," just as it was when he first worked there, 64 years ago. Writing in the August 13 issue of The New York Review of Books , the former Fed Chair shares a bit of historical analysis as he looks...

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose again in March. CPI was up 0.3 percent over February (seasonally adjusted) and is up 2.7 percent over the last 12 months (not seasonally adjusted). The gas index pushed the overall energy index up...

Greg Mankiw challenges the notion put forward in this Wall Street Journal article that a rapidly expanding--or "exploding"--monetary base is a sign that inflation is around the corner. While this graph seems to spell out inflation: Mankiw...

Researchers at the Cleveland Fed and The Ohio State University have developed a new way of measuring inflationary trends. They call it the "Median CPI." Here's the basic description: To calculate the median CPI, the Federal Reserve Bank...

There was a significant shift in inflation between November, 2008 and November, 2009. The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods rose 1.8% last month--a year ago it dropped 2.7%. Here's the 12-month trend for the seasonally-adjusted PPI from the...

The Federal Open Market Committee has wrapped up its two day November meeting, and it appears there are no significant changes to monetary policy coming in the near future. The Fed will keep the federal funds target rate at 0 to 1/4 percent, as the committee...

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke also took to the podium yesterday, albeit with a much, much smaller audience. He gave his outlook on the US Economy in Minneapolis, but he there was little in his speech to suggest any significant change in monetary...

Europe needs to do something, according to Jeffrey Frankel . Specifically, the European Central Bank needs to do something about low inflation, which could soon become deflation in some EU economies. So Frankel is advocating for easing monetary policy...

Warren Buffett writes in today's New York Times that we must not only be concerned with greenhouse emmissions, but with "greenback emmissions" as well. While Buffet applauds federal fiscal policymakers for pumping money into the economy...

The Wall Street Journal 's John Hilsenrath wondered why Dallas Fed president Richard Fisher , a noted inflation hawk, does not seem too concerned about inflation these days. Well, Hilsenrath explains, it is because Fisher and his colleagues place...

In Europe, all eyes are on Thursday's pending announcement from the European Central Bank on policy moves to halt economic slowdown. That the ECB will cut interest rates below 1% for the first time seems to be accepted. But that may not be enough...

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers was flat in January. Lower gasoline, natural gas, and fuel oil costs offset a rises for shelter and apparel costs. From the Bureau of Labor Statistics release: The index for all items less food and...

In his latest Fed Watch at the Economist's View Tim Duy lays out some reasons to consider the idea that the Fed may shift its policy away from additional easing. He is not ready to predict a new course yet, but he points to a series of recent data...

In its Economics by Invitation series, The Economist asks economists to weigh in on vital contemporary issues. Last Friday, the question was "What actions should the Fed be taking?" , and compelling answers keep rolling in from top academics...