Neil Irwin

Two of the world's most important central banks appear poised to raise interest rates in the coming days, as policymakers look to get ahead of the energy price surge translating into broader inflation.

The energy-driven inflation surge is eating into household purchasing power.

Planet Earth has roughly 180 currencies. But for a vast share of global transactions, people want to use just one: the United States dollar.

The big picture: He faces a renewed surge of inflation, a restive wing of monetary hawks on the policy committee and big questions around how he will operationalize the major changes he advocates in how the Fed works.

The spike in interest rates this spring looks to have frightened homebuilders in a big way.

Survey points to continued bumpy conditions in the job market.

Inflation is surging . American consumers appear to keep spending anyway. Driving the news: Retail sales rose 0.9% in May, the Commerce Department said this morning.

Less than four weeks after being sworn in as chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh left no doubt that the way the central bank shapes its policies and communicates is now going to be very different from the last 15 years.

Alan Greenspan, who as the world's most powerful central banker maneuvered the United States through two decades of stunning prosperity, but whose

Alan Greenspan, who died Monday at age 100, created the modern Federal Reserve, and with it the underpinnings of an era of American prosperity.