Oct 02 Why Social Security’s annual increase doesn’t actually keep up with cost of living By Paul Solman The government adjusts Social Security benefits each year based on inflation rates, but that increase has not kept up with the rising cost of medical care and other expenses. Continue reading
Sep 07 Why wages are on the rise and other important numbers from the August jobs report By Gretchen Frazee The economy added 201,000 jobs in August, and the national unemployment rate remained at 3.9 percent. Continue reading
Aug 21 Venezuela knocks 5 zeros off its currency. Will anything change? By Larisa Epatko In an effort to curb soaring inflation in Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro shaved five zeros off the value of the bolivar. Is it enough? We asked several analysts to explain. Continue reading
Sep 30 Column: What’s missing in our economy? Inflation By Vikram Mansharamani Quantitative easing and other unconventional policies should have produced extraordinary inflation, quite possibly even hyperinflation. So what's going on?… Continue reading
Jun 21 Watch 5:03 Venezuelans face collapsing economy, starvation and crime By PBS NewsHour Plummeting worldwide fuel prices have damaged several economies, but perhaps no country has been hit harder than Venezuela. Once flush with oil money, the nation now faces a collapsing economy, skyrocketing inflation and a wave of looting and crime driven… Continue watching
Oct 11 Social Security recipients can expect no benefit increase next year By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press For just the third time in 40 years, millions of Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees can expect no increase in benefits next year, unwelcome news for more than one-fifth of the nation's population. Continue reading
Mar 18 Somewhere between patient and impatient, Fed looks to June rate hike By Simone Pathe At its March policy meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee refused to lay out a time table for raising interest rates, with Janet Yellen saying that a June rate hike is possible but not definitive. The Fed's economic forecasts, however,… Continue reading
Mar 17 Why you shouldn’t expect wages to rise any time soon By John Komlos For months, the thorn in the side of otherwise sunny jobs reports has been sluggish wage growth. As unemployment falls, wages are supposed to rise. Those expectations will likely play a role in the Fed's policy deliberations this week. But… Continue reading
Mar 14 The economics week in review with Nobel laureate Robert Solow By Paul Solman Paul Solman interviews Nobel laureate Robert Solow abut the week's economics news and looks ahead to the Federal Reserve's policy meeting next week. Continue reading
Mar 06 Wages are sore spot on strong February jobs report By Simone Pathe Despite harsh winter weather, the economy added 295,000 jobs in February and the unemployment rate fell to its lowest since mid-2008. Those are signs of a recovering labor market that the Federal Reserve might use to justify an interest rate… Continue reading