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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: deflation

deflation stories: 13 news summaries


 Supermarkets Slash Prices 
 

Deflation stalks the aisles; Safeway cuts below profit point

Sep 17, 09 7:32 AM CDT
(Newser) - Americans are getting a big break on the price of food, as the recession drives down the cost of wheat, milk, and other staples, and supermarkets fight feverishly for sales. After a year of dramatic increases, commodities are way down—the price of corn, for instance, is down 56% since... More »

MORE ABOUT:
recession • consumer spending • supermarket • deflation • food prices • commodities • retailers

(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... More »

MORE ABOUT:
inflation • Consumer Price Index • deflation • consumer prices

OPINION

We're Doomed Without
Another Stimulus: Krugman

Jobs report offers scary echoes of 1930s stagnation

Jul 3, 09 7:35 AM CDT
(Newser) - Yesterday's grim jobs report is the clearest sign yet that the US desperately needs another fiscal stimulus, writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times. This is 1930s redux: a Democratic president has pushed through an insufficient program, while strapped state governments cancel out federal spending with their own budget... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • recession • unemployment • deflation • Paul Krugman • economic stimulus package • Great Depression • job • Christina Romer

Spanish Price Collapse Could Signal New Global Woes

'It’s like the front line of a new virus outbreak'

Apr 21, 09 4:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - Spain has suffered a major blow from the global economic crisis, with sky-high unemployment that could soon reach 20%, and merchants across the country are taking a drastic step: slashing retail prices. While lower costs in shops and restaurants might sound appealing, it's actually very bad news—the first sign... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Spain • Europe • unemployment • global economy • deflation • economic crisis

 Consumer Prices Dip in March 

Prices drop 0.1%, despite tobacco hike

Apr 15, 09 1:18 PM CDT
(AP) - Consumer prices dipped unexpectedly in March, leaving prices over the past year falling at the fastest clip in more than a half-century. The recession is expected to keep a lid on inflation as widespread layoffs dampen wage pressures and weak demand keeps companies from raising prices. Consumer prices edged down... More »

MORE ABOUT:
inflation • tobacco • price • deflation • economy • consumer price index

Analysis

 Fed Nearly 
 Exhausts Options  

With rates at 0%, politically unsavory buying program only tool left

Mar 18, 09 8:53 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Fed is almost sure to leave the federal funds rate alone today, mostly because, at about 0%, it literally can’t go any lower. So with deflation still looming, what’s Ben Bernanke to do? One Goldman Sachs analyst says the Fed needs to shave the equivalent of 8... More »

MORE ABOUT:
inflation • Ben Bernanke • Goldman Sachs • Federal Reserve • deflation • Fed funds rate • financial crisis

2008 Inflation Slowest in 50 Years on Oil Prices, Economy

Slow spending, sliding energy costs lead to 0.1% CPI increase last year

Jan 16, 09 8:43 AM CST
(Newser) - In 2008, consumer prices crept up at the slowest rate since 1954, climbing just 0.1% for the year and missing the Fed’s preference of 1.5% to 2% by a wide margin, the Wall Street Journal reports. Just months after inflation hit 17-year highs, a 75% drop in... More »

MORE ABOUT:
inflation • Ben Bernanke • Federal Reserve • deflation • interest rate • commodities • monetary policy • financial meltdown

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve anticipates the recession will continue through 2009 despite its recent rate slash and other planned “nontraditional policies,” the Wall Street Journal reports. Minutes of the Fed's December 15-16 meeting, at which it cut rates to nearly zero, indicate a deep pessimism about the economy.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
inflation • Federal Reserve • recession • deflation • interest rate • Federal Open Market Committee • interest rate cut • economic downturn

OPINION

'Helicopter Ben' Should Shower Us With Cash

Fed can prevent deflation, but problems lurk down the line

Dec 17, 08 11:56 AM CST
(Newser) - With interest rates functionally zero, Ben Bernanke is soon going to have to resort to the central banker's ultimate weapon: printing cash and showering Americans with money. There's no question that the "helicopter drop" will prevent the dreaded spiral of deflation, writes Martin Wolf in the Financial Times.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Ben Bernanke • Federal Reserve • central bank • deflation • financial crisis

OPINION

Economy's Tanking Too Fast to Wait for Obama: Krugman

The downtime before inaguration could make things grimmer yet

Nov 21, 08 10:32 AM CST
(Newser) - The state of the economy right now reminds Paul Krugman a lot of the start of the Great Depression, including a lame-duck administration that seems to have no credibility, hence no influence on the markets, the columnist writes in the New York Times. Drastic damage was done to the country... More »

MORE ABOUT:
deflation • credit crisis • bailout • economy • Great Depression • financial crisis • lame duck • economic downturn

 Fears of Deflation 
 Spook Economists 

With oil below $50 and sales everywhere, economists seek solutions

Nov 21, 08 9:18 AM CST
(Newser) - Lower prices may sound like a good thing, but economists say sustained deflation poses a serious threat to any turnaround, the Washington Post reports. Consumer prices are tanking on everything from clothes to steel, which feeds a cycle: People stop buying as they hold out for better sales, and stores... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Ben Bernanke • US economy • deflation • consumer prices

Deflation Danger Looms as World Economy Slows

Falling prices
could trigger long
downward spiral

Nov 1, 08 5:11 AM CDT
(Newser) - Fears of runaway inflation have been replaced by fears of its opposite as the world's economy starts seizing up, the New York Times reports. Economists see a potentially devastating deflation ahead as cash-strapped consumers create a glut of underpriced, unpurchased goods and services—in turn triggering mass layoffs at struggling... More »

MORE ABOUT:
world economy • deflation • consumer prices • Japanese economy • Great Depression • commodity prices • financial crisis

Fed Weighs Risky Biz of Rate Cut

Intervention could encourage more risk and trigger bigger crisis

Aug 13, 07 4:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Federal Reserve is facing a dilemma as it decides whether to ride to the rescue of  the market by slashing interest rates—and risk encouraging further recklessness and triggering an even worse crisis, reports the Wall Street Journal. The issue is what economists call moral hazard: protecting someone too... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Federal Reserve • economics • Alan Greenspan • recession • Bill Bernanke • deflation • moral hazard • interest rate

13 Stories


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