The Federal Reserve targets 2% inflation

US inflation can generally be split into to two periods—before and after the Federal Reserve

A central bank itself does not mean significant inflation will occur, but economists generally point to factors like two world wars and the printing of money to finance the US federal deficit as primary drivers of price increases.

The Federal Reserve can set interest rates below zero

Interest rates, the cost of borrowing money, are the primary tool the Federal Reserve uses to control inflation. During periods of deflation, setting interest rates below zero penalizes saving, encourages banks to lend more and moves more cash through the economy.

Read former Fed chair Ben Bernanke's 2002 speech about preventing deflation

Very low inflation rates in the early 2000s in the United States and a worsening recession in Japan sparked some domestic concern over the threat of deflation. While Bernanke wasn't Chair at the time of the speech, he emphasized the Fed's role in preventing deflation.

Central bank independence is correlated with lower inflation on average

Executives may seek to influence the central bank to reduce interest rates for political points. Since its creation in the early 20th century, the US' Federal Reserve saw the most interactions from the president during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

33% of Americans say they don’t know very much about what the Fed does

While most Americans grasp the central bank’s impact on curbing inflation, they don’t know that the Fed is tasked with what is called a “dual mandate” to provide price stability and maximum employment. Furthermore, few understand the Fed is independent—it does not answer to Congress or the US president.

Economists define deflation as a sustained decline in prices across an economy

Deflationary periods are characterized by broad, significant price declines. The Federal Reserve can monitor deflation by tracking prices through price indexes, such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which characterizes the average costs for consumers each month.

The Fed operates within the open market as a competitive bidder of interest rates

Because it’s viewed as a risk-free platform to earn interest, whatever rate it sets becomes the default benchmark. To maintain its target rate prescribed by the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed has various tools it offers both commercial banks and home loan institutions.

'Floating rate' loans periodically adjust their interest rates in accordance with economic conditions

When the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates in 2022 to combat inflation, interest payments borrowers owed to private credit lenders increased accordingly. Private credit funds benefited as loan returns increased, making the asset class attractive to investors at the time.

President Trump's 2025 Tariffs added less inflationary pressure to the economy than expected in their first year

A year after the so-called "Liberation Day" in April 2025, tariffs have had a milder effect on inflation than feared—core goods prices have added only about 0.2% to the headline Consumer Price Index—but persistent policy uncertainty has rattled small business owners, who say the constant back-and-forth makes long-term planning difficult.

Early Americans hated the idea of a central bank

After a series of economic panics induced by a lack of reserve cash at regional banks, the architects of today’s Federal Reserve opted to emphasize the goal of the bank as a reserve at the federal level—thus creating the lasting name.

An updated, comprehensive tracker of global inflation

This tracker provides a visual narrative of inflation rates, central bank policies, consumer price breakouts, and more from nations across the globe.

The Federal Reserve follows the health of the US economy by tracking the money supply

That includes all of the physical and electronic money in circulation. It tracks not only US coins and bills, but also the money that moves through bank deposits. The Fed uses metrics called trackers to follow different types of transactions through the money supply.

Average three-month CD rates reached a historical high of 18.65% in December 1980

Comparatively, average three-month CD rates reached a low of 0.09% in June 2021 amid the economic turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic. When inflation began to rise in 2022, the Fed began initiating rate hikes to incentivize saving.

China had an inflation rate of -0.4% in August 2025

As opposed to other G20 countries that are largely struggling with high inflation rates, China is facing deflation. Sluggish growth in the country's once booming real estate market is just one glimpse into the consumer slowdown triggering deflation.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

How much power does the Federal Reserve really have?

Although mechanisms for transparency exist, it wouldn’t be difficult for the incredibly powerful institution to go rogue in the wrong hands. In this podcast episode, analysts game out how such a scenario would go.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

Some argue that the $2 bill could be more useful than the $1 bill

Inflation has made purchasing items with just a $1 bill extremely rare. At a time when dollar stores are no longer true to their name, it seems that the $2 note may be the more practical small bill to keep on hand. This article advocates for the use of $2 bills, while detailing their history of being overlooked and the communities that swear by them.

The S&P 500 yields a roughly 10.5% average annual return

Tthe factors that go into that calculation are multifaceted—from how inflation impacts it to the stocks themselves. During periods of high inflation, stock performance can be stunted by investor concerns, for instance. The average return also varies based on whether dividends are included.

Understanding the low corporate tax rate in the US

Corporate taxes, which make up roughly a third of the federal government's revenue, have been calculated using a flat 21% rate since the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017. The current rate is considered low both by historic standards (it averaged over 50% in the 1950s and 1960s) and compared to other countries.

The Federal Reserve Act's foundation was laid in a secretive meeting at the world's most prestigious club

Republican Sen. Nelson Aldrich of Rhode Island organized a highly secretive meeting of the minds at the world’s most prestigious club on Jekyll Island, Georgia, where a who’s who in the financial world hashed out details over the course of a week.

Some FIRE followers abide by the 4% rule for portfolio withdrawals

Many FIRE proponents also abide by the 4% rule, which says that retirees can withdraw roughly 4% (adjusted for inflation) of their retirement portfolio each year.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta provides a monthly measure of home ownership affordability

Specifically, the Home Ownership Affordability Monitor shows a monthly measure of the median-income household's capacity to afford the median-priced home at the national level, the metro level, and more.

Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is a Deadhead

For the uninitiated, that means Powell is an avid fan of the band The Grateful Dead. Powell is also a musician, cyclist, and dog park kerfuffle survivor.

Bullion is either gold or silver that has at least 99.5% or 99.9% purity, respectively

It’s typically kept in the form of bars or ingots. Governments and central banks often keep bullion reserves on hand; they can use it as a hedge against inflation. One can invest in bullion via ETFs, among other financial vehicles.

Modern Monetary Theory 101

Modern Monetary Theory is a macroeconomic theory that says government spending should not be restrained by fears of rising debt. Here's a breakdown of how the theory works.

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Fiat money is a currency with no intrinsic, tangible value

Unlike the gold standard, where a nation's currency is linked to the value of gold, fiat money gets its power from the public's trust in its value.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

The USPS spent $3.97B in 2024, accounting for .058% of the federal budget.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

Despite being favored by 87% of Americans, Congress does not have term limits.

The rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson centered on federalism—the question of how much power the federal government should hold relative to the states.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

About 12.5% of US adults experience a phobia in their lifetime, a diagnosis that hinges on the intense fear interfering with daily life and persisting for at least six months.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Famed poet TS Eliot rejected the manuscript for George Orwell's political fable 'Animal Farm,' writing that its criticism of authoritarianism was not 'the right point of view.'

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

While atoms are normally made of protons, neutrons, and electrons, exotic ones have been built with antimatter—alternate versions of normal matter that live for fractions of a second and are about a billion times as rare.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Prince's sexually explicit 1984 track 'Darling Nikki' attracted the ire of the Parents Music Resource Center, an advocacy group that inspired the Parental Advisory sticker, even though the song ends with a Christian message.

For centuries, Niagara Falls has been a magnet for daredevils seeking to conquer one of nature's most powerful wonders, with its 200-foot drop and water rushing at 32 feet per second with 280 tons of force.