It's always a pleasure for a teacher to receive a note from a former student showing that he or she has taken key lessons to heart. I had such a pleasure last winter when Joey, who had taken Money and Banking with me last fall, sent me a good question about an article in the Washington Post.

The Post article (January 21) stated, “Many . . . economists think . . . an inflationary spiral is unlikely because a slowing economy would mean less upward pressure on prices.”

Joey asked: “If our economy is slowing, yet we are still printing money, won't that only increase inflation even more? After all, we will have more money in circulation with less being produced; that sounds like the grounds for inflation to me. Am I missing something?” More . . .

A NEW article by Howard Baetjer, Jr.