Economics
What the Fed Heard When It Listened to Americans About Inflation
- Central bankers told higher prices crush low income workers
- Outreach effort displays disconnect between Fed, U.S. public
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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell calls slumping inflation “one of the major challenges our time.’’ Shawn Smith, who trains some of the nation’s most vulnerable low-income workers, sees it differently.
The people in Smith’s world don’t want higher prices. Even slight increases “make a huge difference to someone who is living on a limited income,’’ Smith, who’s the director of workforce development at Goodwill of Central and Coastal Virginia, said at a recent Richmond Fed event.