Odds of a recession rising but vary widely

Jun 21, 2022
There is a very real chance that the country may end up paying a price for getting inflation under control. That price is recession.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

"We need to act decisively and affirmatively to get inflation under control," says Atlanta Fed president

Jun 17, 2022
Raphael Bostic, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, on why he supports this week's rate hike.
Raphael Bostic, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, speaks at an event for the Rotary Club of Atlanta.
E. M. Pio Roda/Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

The argument against the Fed creating a central bank digital currency

“It's hard to find a clear reason to have [a CBDC], and, in fact, there are a lot of reasons not to,” says the Roosevelt Institute’s Chris Hughes.
“It's hard to find a clear reason to have [a CBDC], and, in fact, there are a lot of reasons not to,” said the Roosevelt Institute’s Chris Hughes.
Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images

Reading the Federal Reserve minutes can feel like hours, but Fed watchers still pore over them

May 24, 2022
For those who understand Fed lingo, the minutes can hint at divisions or disagreements, and where Fed policy may be headed.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell at a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on May 4. We'll get the minutes for that meeting Wednesday afternoon. Get your coffee ready.
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As U.S. interest rates rise, China's are headed in the opposite direction

May 20, 2022
Here in the U.S., the Fed is trying to cool an overactive economy. In China, the goal is to juice one that's flagging.
As the U.S. economy tries to slow down inflation by raising interest rates, China's central bank is lowering interest rates to spur economic growth.
Nicolas Asfouri/ AFP via Getty Images

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Former Chair Ben Bernanke takes long view of Federal Reserve's current challenges

May 17, 2022
“I think it's important to look back at history,” said the former leader of the U.S. central bank.
During an interview with Kai Ryssdal of "Marketplace," former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke discussed how the Federal Reserve has dealt with inflation in the past as well as its current approach.
Nancy Farghalli/Marketplace

How looking back at the Fed’s past can help us understand its future

May 17, 2022
Former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's new book charts a history of “remarkable innovation and change.”
The Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Fed Chair Jerome Powell: "Whether we can execute a soft landing or not, it may actually depend on factors that we don't control."

May 12, 2022
"I think the one thing we really cannot do is to fail to restore price stability," Powell told Kai Ryssdal.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, left, speaks with Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal in Washington, D.C., on Thursday.
Nancy Farghalli/Marketplace