CHAPTER 12
Consumer and Producer Price Indexes
An increase in the prices of goods and services is called inflation. A certain level of inflation in the economy is normal, even healthy. Accelerating inflation, however, can cause severe problems, sometimes sparking recession. No wonder the financial markets keep a close eye on price measures and their growth rates. For this purpose, many traders and economists, including those at the Federal Reserve Board, favor the implicit price deflators contained in the gross domestic product (GDP) report (see Chapter 1). That report appears only quarterly, however. For more timely—and detailed—inflation indicators, most market participants turn to the reports on the consumer price index (CPI) and the producer ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access