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A strong economy with low inflation? Inequality may be to blame.

New inflation numbers out today showed … very little of it. The consumer price index ticked up 0.2 percent in February. It was the first rise in four months. And year over year, the measure of how expensive it is to buy a fixed basket of goods is up just 1.5 percent. And that’s weird, […]

A strong economy with low inflation? Inequality may be to blame.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images

New inflation numbers out today showed … very little of it. The consumer price index ticked up 0.2 percent in February. It was the first rise in four months. And year over year, the measure of how expensive it is to buy a fixed basket of goods is up just 1.5 percent. And that’s weird, because in theory, if the economy’s as strong as it seems to be, there should be more inflation. This has been puzzling economists and the Federal Reserve. One explanation that’s been bouncing around lately is that economic inequality’s to blame.

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