Workers slash consumers are feeling good enough that they're willing to pay for higher prices on things like concert tickets and haircuts. How do we make sense of that? Well, if you think about it, a rental agreement is really sort of a bet on the future. Another thing we probably want to think about with rents is that you've got a certain population that's renting. And they're the people who are likely getting squeezed pretty severely by inflation right now.
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.
Jeanna Smialek, who covers the Federal Reserve and the U.S. economy for The Times, discusses whether the decline is a result of careful policymaking, or more of a lucky accident.
Guest: Jeanna Smialek, a Federal Reserve correspondent for The New York Times.
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