The hottest Consumer prices Substack posts right now

A state attorney general says Amazon ran a broad price‑fixing scheme that pressured sellers and other retailers to raise prices, and he’s asking a court to stop it right away.
Amazon allegedly uses Prime perks, the Buy Box algorithm, fulfillment fees, and secret pricing tools to force sellers not to undercut prices, which pushes costs up both on and off its site.
Antitrust enforcers are stepping up with lawsuits and claims of deleted internal messages, and judges could impose injunctions that force big changes in how Amazon and similar firms operate.

Disinflation means prices are rising more slowly, but that doesn't always mean good news. If people aren't spending because they can't afford things, it can signal trouble in the economy.
The Federal Reserve may lower interest rates in response to disinflation to try and encourage spending, but this might just be a way to show they are doing something without fixing the deeper issues.
Sticky prices and disinflation can show that people are struggling financially. For a healthy economy, we need wages to rise so people can spend more, rather than just seeing temporary price drops.

China's consumer prices fell sharply in January, causing concern for policymakers.
Over $1 trillion in market value has been lost from Chinese and Hong Kong exchanges.
China's economic prospects are grim, with property market struggles and a significant stock market decline.

Multiple inflation measures — shelter CPI (which is lagged), Zillow’s rent estimate, core CPI, goods, and services — are all converging toward about 2%.
Rent inflation functions largely as a transfer rather than a production cost, so it probably shouldn’t drive monetary policy and could be excluded from policy price indexes.
With shelter removed, inflation sits near 2%, but tariffs have pushed goods prices up, suggesting the true neutral target may be a bit higher and there’s room for slightly more stimulative policy.

The U.S. labor market is still strong, showing no signs of cooling off. Recently, 256,000 new jobs were added, which is much more than expected.
Inflation in the U.S. hasn't exceeded the Federal Reserve's target since mid-2022, but there's concern it could rise again. The Fed needs to make sure its policies stay neutral to keep inflation in check.
There are worries that the current financial market is overly optimistic. If the expectations for market growth don't pan out, it could lead to a serious economic downturn.

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