The Federal Reserve has two main jobs: maximize employment and keep prices stable. That second piece, stable prices, has meant the Fed tries to keep inflation at 2 percent. Former Fed Chair Ben Bernanke made that target the explicit goal about six years ago, but it’s been unofficial far longer than that. Lots of other […]

A big date on the economic calendar this week: the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee meeting Dec. 12 and 13. We’ll find out Wednesday whether it’s raising short-term interest rates again. An important piece of the economic puzzle landed on today with the November jobs report. It showed unemployment at a low 4.1 percent and […]

The GOP tax cuts may add about 0.8 percent to GDP growth during the next 10 years, according to several budget models. But that’s economic growth for an economy that’s already heating up. And you know who you call when the economy gets too hot? The Federal Reserve. It’s the Fed’s job to come in […]