After years of exhorting China to increase the value of its yuan, the currency is finally rising. Why that's so is the result of the Fed's quantitative easing program. Here's how Bernanke managed to succeed where political wrangling fell short.
When the economic gurus at the Fed move the levers of U.S. monetary policy, they do so with two often-conflicting goals in mind: promoting maximum employment and keeping prices stable. Many critics are now arguing that that Fed should focus solely on prices.
Even as consumers celebrate lower prices, economists fear that widespread price decreases signal more problems ahead for the U.S. economy. To show the breadth of price declines, we've compiled a list of popular products that have dropped in price over the last year.
Lower prices may sound nice, but deflation can wreck an economy with pay cuts, lower profits and falling stock prices.