inflation

When the Fed raises interest rates, the central bank is ultimately hoping to stabilize rapidly rising prices

One of the biggest drivers of inflation has been higher rent prices.

Like Boris Johnson, Liz Truss trades on optimism that the usual terms of economic life are bound to return.

Prices at the gas pump have drifted down a bit in the last month but are still eye-popping. At the same time, Exxon just reported second-quarter profits of $17.9bn, more than three times what it earned a year ago.

Proportion of people travelling by bicycle in central Beijing hit a near-decade high of 47.8 per cent last year, with some spending up to 100,000 yuan (US$14,800)

Rising gas prices have been a major driver of inflation. A government report released last week showed that an increase in energy prices fueled a big jump in inflation in June, when the Consumer Price Index rose 9.1 percent from a year earlier, a new four-decade high. Gas prices soared after demand for oil rebounded from pandemic lows and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drove up oil prices.

A year earlier, inflation stood at 2.5% and looked to be steady as the world emerged from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Fears of a recession have surged as the Federal Reserve lifts interest rates to cool consumer demand and tame the fastest pace of inflation in four decades.

Nearly everything grew more expensive, but the price gains were mainly fueled by an increase in energy, food, and shelter costs, which have been climbing for months amid supply chain disruptions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The domestic political turmoil unfolding in Sri Lanka also links back to the instability across the globe, including the war in Ukraine and all of its consequences.