Welcome to our weekly column in which a topic of interest, piece of news, relevant opinion, or general request for feedback is presented. We’ll offer the topic du jour and accompanying question, and you have the opportunity to respond with your thoughts.
Simply fill out the form below. A collection of each week’s responses will appear in the following week’s column. To view responses on last week’s topic "Gubernatorial Candidates That Supported Jan. 6th Events", click here.
Publisher reserves the right to edit responses for clarity and publish online and/or in our print publications.
Please let us know your thoughts!
This week’s Feedback Friday topic is:
Inflation & Rising Interest Rates
Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced that the Reserve has raised the short-term interest rate by three-quarters of a point (0.75%), the largest single increase since 1994. This in an effort to curb the inflation that the U.S. economy in experiencing. In a similar move on Thursday, the Bank of England announced it, too, has raised interest rates to curb inflation in England. The United States and England are not alone. The global economy has stalled and is, indeed, experiencing inflation—many countries are taking similar approaches to economic mitigation.
Here's the quick and dirty version of inflation theory, causes, and effects. Inflation is the result of a strong economy. Pandemic aside, the U.S. has generally experienced a strong economy since recovering from The Great Recession of ’07–09. During this time, borrowing money was done at historically low rates, which increased consumer spending power, and ultimately led to rising prices of consumer goods over time. Hence inflation. But by raising the short-term loan interest rate, the Federal Reserve has now made short-term borrowing more expensive, thus softening borrowing and consumer spending overall. Consumer prices should decrease over time.
This is all to ask…what do you believe are factors that contributed to national and global inflation? Do you blame government leadership, or do you consider other domestic and global variables? How are you faring during this challenging economy?
What do you think about inflation, interest rates, and the economy?
Please share your thoughts by filling out this form. Today’s responses—and all future Feedback Friday responses—will be published in our Monday newsletters after the weekend. AND, several responses from recent topics will appear in our upcoming print magazines!
