When it comes to the Federal Reserve and monetary policy, there are no shortages of talking heads who say the central bank can’t raise interest rates too much or else it would trigger a “debt bomb.” What this means is that because the federal debt is so high, even a relatively small increase in rates might force the government ...

  The US Federal Reserve’s next policy-making meeting in mid-March will be one of the most consequential in recent memory, with inflation running at a 40-year high and Europe riven by armed conflict. Yet with several nominations stuck in the Senate, the central bank is troublingly under-prepared to rise to the occasion. It’s a weakness that legislators must urgently resolve. ...

Bloomberg Qantas Airways Ltd flagged a period of higher air fares to claw back rising fuel costs as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sends oil prices soaring. “The group is very well placed to be able to recover the cost of fuel if it stays at the levels that it is at the moment,” Qantas Chief Financial Officer Vanessa Hudson said ...