Why everything is so expensive right now

Just over seven years ago, we launched this daily news podcast from The Washington Post.Our goal was to bring you inside our newsroom, sharing our reporting with listeners to help make sense of what was happening in the world. We’ve published hundreds of episodes. We’ve covered e ... Show More

In his second term, President Donald Trump has gone on a mission to reinvent the Kennedy Center, the beloved performing arts venue in Washington, D.C.Trump promised to overhaul the center’s programming. He installed loyalists on the board who made him chairman. In December, Trump ... Show More

In late January of last year, an American Eagle flight and a U.S. Army helicopter collided above the Potomac River, killing everyone aboard both aircraft. It was the deadliest flight disaster in the U.S. in decades.A year later, families and first responders are reflecting on the ... Show More

For over a decade, America’s central bank has had an inflation target of 2%. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve announced that it would keep its main interest rate unchanged in order to try and get inflation to that magic number. But what if the Fed is thinking about inflation all ... Show More

<p>In the struggle to control inflation, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates five times already this year.</p><p>But those efforts can be blunted if companies keep raising prices regardless. And one industry has illustrated that difficulty particularly starkly: the car ... Show More

<p>To fight historic levels of inflation, the Federal Reserve this week, once again, raised interest rates, its most powerful weapon against rising prices.</p><p>The move was intended to slow demand, but there was also a psychological factor: If consumers become convinced that in ... Show More

<p>Rapid inflation has been a problem in the United States for more than two years, but the tide appears to be turning. Annual inflation is now less than half of what it was last summer.</p><p>Jeanna Smialek, who covers the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for The Times, disc ... Show More

<p>With prices on the rise in the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce on Wednesday an increase in interest rates, essentially pouring a cold glass of water on the economy.</p><p>Why would the central bank do that? The answer lies in the inflation crisis of t ... Show More