Inflation and Deflation

LONDON (AP) _ The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are under mounting pressure to cut interest rates aggressively this week amid signs that the economic slump will be deeper and more prolonged than previously expected. While many observers...

BEIJING (AP) _ China's manufacturing activity contracted sharply in November as a downturn in the world's fourth-largest economy worsened, raising the threat of politically volatile job losses, according to data reported Monday. Also Monday, the...

When prices fall for clothes, gasoline and other goods and services, it's good news for consumers who are facing increasing financial pressure in an ailing economy. Consumer prices fell by 1 percent last month compared with September, mostly because of...

It turns out there may be an upside to a busy Gulf of Mexico hurricane season — if you happen to be a shrimp or a clam. The silver lining on the storm clouds has to do with the effect of tumultuous tropical weather on the Gulf's oxygen-depleted...

Amid fresh signs of financial troubles, President-elect Barack Obama announced Wednesday that he was tapping a seasoned figure from past economic struggles to head a new advisory panel dedicated to creating jobs and stabilizing the markets. Obama said...

President-elect Barack Obama chose a former Federal Reserve chairman Wednesday to head a board of economic experts to advise him, in his latest bid to reassure nervous consumers and financial markets that he will bring swift economic relief as president....

In your Oct. 19 column you said that if you wait until you're 70 to collect Social Security, your benefit check increases by 8 percent for each year you delay past your full retirement age. If a person can collect $2,000 a month at 66, he'd collect $2,640...

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Bush administration had to strive mightily to win congressional approval of a $700 billion rescue package for the financial system. Now, with no muss and no fuss, the Federal Reserve has announced an even bigger program totaling $800...

As the financial crisis was gaining force, Americans cut back on their spending in October by the largest amount since the 2001 terrorist attacks. The Commerce Department reported today that consumer spending plunged by 1 percent last month, even worse...

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) _ Declining global oil and commodity prices slowed Vietnam's inflation for a third month in November but the rate remains one of the highest in Asia. The consumer price index rose 24.2 percent from a year earlier in November, easing...

Q: Where can I go to figure out how much inflation has occurred within a certain time span? A: Visit the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics website and you'll find a handy inflation calculator: data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl. If you...

America is in urgent need of economic reassurance. The outlook continued to darken yesterday, as the auto industry's Big Three were warned by congressional Democrats that they faced a tough road in pursuit of aid, the Federal Reserve predicted a deeper...