As Federal Reserve officials stare down the last mile in their campaign against inflation, one key question is becoming increasingly central to the debate: Will goods prices continue to fall? Lower prices for everything from apparel to used cars were a major driver of the faster-than-expected downdraft in inflation in the second half of 2023, and a slower pace of price declines since then has contributed to higher readings so far over the first several months of 2024. Whether supply chains are fully healed from pandemic and war-related disruptions or not has policymakers divided on the outlook. Fed Chair Jerome ... (full story)