Consumer Prices Drop More Than Expected
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A record plunge in consumer prices in November puts pressure on the Federal Reserve to act d
e
cisively to guard against a debilitating bout of deflation.
The Fed wraps up a two-day meeting Tuesday. Economists expect the central bank to cut the federal funds rate, already at a low of 1 percent, by another half-point in an effort to keep the recession from
worsening.
Consumer prices, an inflation barometer, last month fell by the largest amount on records g
oing back 61 years as energy costs posted nearly double the decline of the previous month, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
Prices fell 1.7 percent, surpassing the previous record decline of 1 percent set in October. It was the largest one-month decline dating to February 1947. Core inflation, excluding food and energy,
was flat i
n November after a 0.1 percent drop in October.
read comments (0)Morgan Stanley Is One Bank That Cites a Loan From TARP Money
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Banks that were rescued with billions of dollars in public funds have, in most cases, refused to provide specifics about how they have used or intend to use the money.
BC News asked 16 of the banks that have received money from the Treasury Department’s $700 billion Trouble Asset Relief Program the same two questions: How has your financial institution used the money, and how much has your financial institution allocated to bonuses and incentives this year?
To read the banks’ responses, click here.
Goldman Sachs reported Tuesday that it paid $10.93 billion in compensation for the year, which includes salaries and bonuses, payroll taxes and benefits. That is down 46 percent from a year ago. Goldman Sachs received $10 billion from the Treasury. 