Question
Source 1 : FEBRUARY 10, 2021 - The numbers: The cost of U.S. consumer goods and services rose in January at the fastest pace in
Source 1: FEBRUARY 10, 2021 - The numbers: The cost of U.S. consumer goods and services rose in January at the fastest pace in five months, largely because of higher gasoline prices. Inflation more broadly was still quite mild, however.
Most of the increase in consumer inflation last month stemmed from higher oil and gas prices. The cost of gasoline rose 7.4%.
The cost of food, another household staple, edged up a scant 0.1% last month.
Last month prices rose for clothing, medical care, rent and car insurance, but those increases were offset by lower costs of new and used cars, passenger fares and recreation.
The core rate has increased a 1.4% in the past year, unchanged from the prior month. Investors pay closer attention to the core rate because it gives a better sense of underlying inflation.
- What does this show about how healthy the US economy is? (healthy or unhealthy and why)
- What policies could be implemented to help fix a problem seen or help keep healthy parts of the economy from getting "overheated" given the data. (This should be a specific Monetary policy OR Fiscal Policy)
- For each policy be clear with whether it is expansionary or contractionary, and how the specific policy will help given the data in the source.
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