Used car prices jumped by 45% nationally during the 12-month period ending in June to a record average sale price of $25,000.
inflation
Posted inBusiness, Maine
Mainers dig deeper to pay for goods and services as inflation rises
Consumer prices rose by an average of 5% in the Northeast over the past year – three times the annual U.S. average over the previous decade.
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Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Will inflation derail the U.S. economy?
WASHINGTON — Inflation is back. What do we do about it? For starters: Don’t ignore it. The latest consumer price index (CPI) — the government’s best-known inflation indicator — reported a 2.9 percent increase from July 2017. The last time the year-over-year gain was higher was in December 2011. Though hardly a cause for panic, […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Run the economy hot? We’ve done that
WASHINGTON — Can we run the economy “hot”? To those who think that President Trump’s economic policy is simply an extended program to make the rich richer, there is another, more subtle possibility. The focus on the rich, while understandable, simplifies and misrepresents Trump’s larger ambition. This is to create an economy that is operating […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Will inflation come back to haunt U.S.?
WASHINGTON — Anyone looking for good economic news will be disappointed by the latest inflation report, which showed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) advancing by 0.5 percent in January. By itself, this isn’t especially alarming — prices jump around month to month — but it has troubling implications for the future. To some economists, it […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Robert Samuelson: Higher wages don’t always lead to inflation
WASHINGTON — Wages are among our most scrutinized economic indicators. It’s no secret why. We’d all like a pay raise. But there’s a second, less-recognized reason. Wages are considered a precursor to higher inflation. If they rise sharply, prices will follow. That’s the theory. It’s wrong — or at least dangerously incomplete. This matters now. […]
Posted inOp-Eds
Robert Samuelson: Theories in abundance about low wage increases
WASHINGTON — The great wage mystery deepens. In economic recoveries, there usually comes a time when strong job gains lead to strong wage gains. Businesses must pay more to recruit and retain the workers they need. Not this time — or at least not yet. The unemployment rate has dropped from a peak of 10 […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine parents raising children as costs rise but incomes don’t
PORTLAND — The cost of raising children is growing faster than parents’ abilities to pay it, a trend that’s placing more Maine youths in poverty and potentially leaving the next generation at a disadvantage as it inherits the state. “It just gets more expensive,” said Sarah Krajewski, a mother of three who lives in Bath. […]