Global central banks already struggling to spur inflation amid the spreading coronavirus are facing a fresh challenge -- the oil crash. The price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia that has given crude its worst week since 2008 will put heavy downward pressure on inflation just as the coronavirus outbreak hits consumer spending. It’s undoing the years of effort that monetary authorities have put in, along with trillions of dollars of stimulus, trying to hit their price-stability targets. The question now is whether they have the capacity to respond as strongly as needed. Market-based gauges of future inflation have ... (full story)