Benchmark
This Is What Oil at $40 Means for the U.S. Economy
We surveyed economists to see what a sustained period of cheap oil would do for U.S. growth, inflation and monetary policy
Oil's Race to the Bottom and the Global 'New Normal'
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The price of oil has tumbled 58 percent this year to reach a six-year low earlier this week. Even if prices stay at these levels, chances are they won't impact the Federal Reserve's interest-rate plans.
Seventy percent of economists in a Bloomberg News survey said crude oil prices around $40 per barrel for the next three months would have no impact on the Fed. Of the 30 percent that said it would influence the central bank, the respondents were evenly split between whether it would cause a delay in the first interest-rate increase or slow the hiking path.