+Economy & Policy | 305 days ago

Is Inflation Here to Stay? Price Rise Nears a 30-year High

By Stephen Gandel
A gas sign in Maui, Hawaii, where prices are nearing $5 a gallon. (Mike Blake/Reuters)
A signboard displays the price of gas in the town of Paia, in Maui, Hawaii April 8, 2011. A recent Reuters poll found long-term expectations for the food and fuel prices that have pushed inflation higher in recent month are on the rise. Consumers meanwhile complain that food and gasoline consume too much of their income, forcing difficult decisions to stay within budgets. REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENERGY POLITICS TRANSPORT BUSINESS)

OK. So I will admit it. I finally have a touch of inflation fever. But it’s just a touch. Sniffles.

The government reported the Consumer Price Index, the most important monthly gauge of inflation, on Friday for March and it showed that inflation is rising at the fastest pace in more than a year. On average, prices are up 2.7% in the past 12-months. But if you take the past four months alone, prices are on pace to rise nearly 6% a year. That’s the fastest jump for inflation in nearly 30 years. The last time inflation topped 6% was in 1982.

So why don’t I have a full-blown case of inflation fever? Here’s why:

+Economy & Policy | 315 days ago

Survey: Inflation to Jump 200% in 2011

By Stephen Gandel

Among the things the recent recovery may lack – jobs, for one – there is one thing we have in abundance: Inflation worries. And why not? Food prices are rising. Gas prices are rising. And many think the Federal Reserve’s efforts to boost the economy could lead to massive inflation. About six months ago, Sarah [...]

+Economy & Policy | 447 days ago

Thanksgiving: Another Reason to Worry about Hyperinflation?

By Stephen Gandel

If you ask me, yes I am worried about inflation (Photo: Brian Snyder/REUTERS) Apparently, if you want to talk turkey about hyperinflation Thanksgiving is a good time to do it. There has been a lot of debate recently about whether prices are rising or not. The government’s measure of inflation the consumer price index, or [...]

+Economy & Policy | 562 days ago

Bernanke and the Inflation Fear Bubble

By Stephen Gandel

Here’s another data point that gold and other things that are supposed to trade up when inflation spikes are in a bubble: The prices of books about hyperinflation are themselves hyperinflated (from Fortune): Jens O. Parsson’s out of print economic treatise, Dying of Money: Lessons of the Great German and American Inflations, is selling for [...]

+Economy & Policy | 636 days ago

Is Gold about to Bust?

By Stephen Gandel

The consumer price index, which measures inflation, was out this morning and it was down slightly in April. Here’s what Calculated Risk had to say: The disinflationary trend continues – and with all the slack in the system (especially the 9.9% unemployment rate), it is hard to see inflation picking up any time soon. The [...]

+Economy & Policy | 765 days ago

Has the invention of TIPS made hyperinflation less of a threat?

By Justin Fox

The WSJ reports that the Treasury Department is making its biggest offering of inflation linked bonds in five years today: In a bid to meet the demands of big creditors such as China and Japan and keep its funding costs low, the Treasury will kickstart this year’s offerings of Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities by selling $10 [...]