“I think we should be humble,” said Steinsson. “It may well be that people hate inflation for some reason that is good and valid. It’s very plausible that we as a field haven’t really had a lot of success in modeling and articulating these costs.”

Ms. Nakamura is just fourth woman to receive award since it began in 1947

Emi Nakamura, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, won the John Bates Clark Medal for her distinctive approach and creativity in her research.

China says its economy grew 6.7% for the third consecutive quarter

Chinese farmers worked at their paddy fields in a village in Congjiang county, southwest China's Guizhou province on Tuesday.

​Events have weakened the rationale against it, chief economics commentator Greg Ip says

Six years ago, Olivier Blanchard, then chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, floated the idea that central banks should target 4% inflation instead of 2%. I remember giving a colleague countless reasons why he was wrong.

China's economy faces many challenges. Rising prices aren't one of them, at least according to official data.

Consumer prices in January were up 2.5% from a year earlier, matching December's pace and within Beijing's comfort zone. While such low inflation might normally make authorities feel safe opening the credit spigots, that's unlikely to happen given the concern about the economy's mounting debt load.