Inflation rates are rising in the US – an economist explains why

A variety of factors have caused the U.S. inflation rate to increase over the past few years, from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine. Javier Ghersi/Moment via Getty Images

Consumer prices in the U.S. are rising due to inflation at the fastest rate they have in decades. Earlier this summer, SciLine interviewed Martha Olney, a teaching professor emerita of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, about what’s causing prices to rise and what the government can do to encourage a return to stable prices.