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Fourth Quarter 2023

In this issue: how the pandemic era changed price-setting, the role that Reserve Bank boards of directors play, boosting the rural rental housing supply, and more.

Cover Story


Black and white photo of woman walking into store with prices written on window.

While price-setting is challenging even in normal times, shocks during the past few years, such as the pandemic and inflation, have made it harder.

Thomas I. Barkin

If good workers remain hard to find, wages could rise further, pressuring margins and prices in turn. So it's important to understand what's happening in the labor market, and where it may go from here.

Apartment buildings lined across a hill in a rural area with Fall colored trees surrounding.

Rental housing has become less affordable across the country, but rural markets face additional difficulties.

Sections


Headshot of Nobel Prize winner Angus Deaton.

The Nobel Prize winner on the increase in deaths of despair, skepticism of randomized controlled trials, and the relevance of national boundaries.

Silicon Valley Bank front entrance.

Leaders within the Senate have arrived at a bipartisan proposal, known as the Recovering Executive Compensation Obtained from Unaccountable Practices (RECOUP) Act, that would claw back compensation from some executives of failed banks.

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