Inflation & The Fed

Check out the accompanying pdf and chart collection. Executive Summary: Investors are on the edge of their seats: Will the FOMC raise the federal funds rate (FFR) when it meets this week or pass this time? Key will be how fast inflation is falling, and the Consumer Price Index for May will be released as they deliberate. We say monetary policy is restrictive enough already, as the higher effective FFR implies a tighter environment than the straight FFR suggests. … Also: We recap what consumer inflation measures have been doing for goods and for services since peaking last year. The latter has proven more stubbornly persistent than the former. … And: Dr. Ed reviews “BlackBerry” (+ + +).