Module 3 Extra Credit Posts for Fall 2025
October 24 New inflation data came out this morning. This report was delayed several days due to the government shutdown. The inflation rate for the consumer price index is 3.0% over the last year . Here's a chart of the last 10 years of data: I have seen this interpreted as both a good number (low enough) and a bad number (still too high), depending on the underlying politics of the source. For example, the White House will claim that this rate is low enough to justify further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve: they are more worried about the expansionary effect of lowering interest rates than the side-effect of more inflation. To a student, this must seem crazy. But you can check yourself. Try the keywords "inflation rate hot" in Google, and you'll get hits indicating that 3% is high . But if you use the keywords "inflation rate cool", you'll get hits indicating that 3% is low . This isn't normal. To put a good spin on it, it does reflect...