Tag: Inflation

Flash: Inflation Has Been Beat!

At least that is what we are being told by the man with the plan….the problem is when I shop I do not see any relief…..how about you?

Could it be dementia creeping in?

… polls show widespread anxiety over the cost of living—and as some within Trump’s own party question whether he’s focused enough on those concerns.

Trump insists his administration is turning things around. “We inherited a total mess from the Biden administration,” he said this week. “The Democrats caused the affordability problem, and we’re the ones that are fixing it.” Last week, he called the affordability issue a “con job” pushed by Democrats. A New York Times analysis sees Trump as being in essentially the same position as then-President Biden early last year: “Telling the American people that they are doing great, when many don’t feel that way.”

Trump asserts that inflation is “essentially gone” and says the outlook will keep improving as the effects of his tariffs take hold. But year-over-year inflation is actually up slightly, and prices have only increased since the president declared “Liberation Day” in April thanks to his tariffs, and promised that relief was on the way, per the AP. A new Politico poll found that 46% of Americans—including more than a third of Trump voters—say the cost of living is the worst they’ve ever seen.

How long is this tool going blame Biden?  He has had 11 months and if he4 is such a goddamn financial genius he should have solved these problems months ago.

And why does his sycophants refuse to release economic data for all of us peons to see just where the problems are?

If you believe inflation has been beat then please pass on just where it is happening.

Sorry I do not see anything he has said on this subject as accurate…..but that is just me.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is Inflation Under Control?

If one does their own shopping I do not think they will see it as under control.

But Donny tells us that he has “licked inflation”…..but sadly that is another of his wild accusations that just does not hole water…..

President Donald Trump has declared inflation “solved” as Americans are paying more for everyday goods like gas and groceries.

“I’ve already solved inflation,” Trump told “Fox & Friends” on Friday morning. “Costs are down.”

The president went on to boast, “I’ve solved just about every problem.”

But statistics from the U.S. Department of Labor show Americans are paying more—in some cases far more—at the pump and at the checkout line.

“Inflation inched higher last month as Americans closed out the summer paying more for both groceries and gasoline,” NPR reported on Thursday. “Consumer prices in August were up 2.9% from a year ago, according to a report Thursday from the Labor Department. That’s a sharper annual increase than the previous month, when inflation was clocked at 2.7%.”

During the 2024 presidential campaign, Donald Trump vowed to lower prices “on day one.”

Yet, due in part to his sweeping tariffs, “Virtually all major grocery categories are now more expensive than they were a year ago, some substantially so,” according to Axios. “This was the biggest month-over-month increase since August 2022, the tail end of a year of huge monthly increases in grocery prices.

Overall, the cost of groceries in August was up 0.6% over July’s prices, and the price of gas jumped 1.9% in just one month, according to NPR.

(alternet.org)

“He has solved almost every problem?

Which ones are those?

My wallet does not agree with the outright lie…..how about yours?

The inflation report was not the only troubling economic indicator, however.

The BLS also revealed that jobless claims in the US jumped to 263,000 last week, which was significantly higher than the 235,000 claims expected by economists. Joe Weisenthal, the co-host of the Bloomberg “Odd Lots” podcast, noted that this was the highest total for weekly jobless claims in nearly four years.

Long also flagged the worrying jobless claims number and predicted that it was just the start of a further downturn in the US economy.

“‘Cost cutting’ is back among CEOs and that is corporate speak for more layoffs,” she said. “It’s going to be a rough few months ahead as the tariffs impacts work their way through the economy. Americans will experience higher prices and (likely) more layoffs.”

(commondreams.org)

Now the Fed sees this rise in inflation and word is they will lower interest rates at their next meeting to try and stave off any thoughts of a recession.

But not to worry Donny has all this well in hand.

BULLOCKS!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Another BRIC In The Wall

Just a little something to think about on this Cyber Monday.

In 2025 if all the promises are held to then the consumer should be prepared for high prices on a wide array of products…..like coffee, electronics, textiles, agricultural stuff, clothing, furniture, toys and steel….there are more but you get my drift I suppose.

There is a wall being built…..a wall of high prices…..

More possible tariffs and more high prices….

President-elect Trump continues to wield his tariff weapon: On Saturday, he threatened 100% tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRIC alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said: “We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy,” per the AP.

While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed up with America’s dominance of the global financial system. The dollar represents roughly 58% of the world’s foreign exchange reserves, according to the IMF, and major commodities like oil are still primarily bought and sold using dollars. The dollar’s dominance is threatened, however, with BRICS’ growing share of GDP and the alliance’s intent to trade in non-dollar currencies—a process known as de-dollarization.

At a summit of BRIC nations in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the US of “weaponizing” the dollar and described it as a “big mistake.” “It’s not us who refuse to use the dollar,” Putin said at the time. “But if they don’t let us work, what can we do? We are forced to search for alternatives.” Russia has specifically pushed for the creation of a new payment system that would offer an alternative to the global bank messaging network, SWIFT, and allow Moscow to dodge Western sanctions and trade with partners. Trump said there is “no chance” BRIC will replace the US dollar in global trade and any country that tries to make that happen “should wave goodbye to America.”

Today is Cyber Monday you might want to consider the price increases to come and spend your money appropriately.

A note…..tariffs….the countries do not pay the money it is the importers they pay and is passed along to the consumer…..in other words the tariffs effect you and no one else.

Are you not pleased with your choice?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The President Will Change Inflation

The 2024 election has become so flippin’ boring!  We know Trump will be incoherent and Harris will echo Biden and that is about it.

This election season the candidates are giving inflation a lot of lip service….one says if elected he will end inflation on day one….the other is not so precise.

But can a president really do, do they have the power to end inflation?

Now that is a question that anyone worried about inflation should be asking of their candidate and ask for specifics after all words are cheap.

The Kiplinger Report takes a look at what is involved with inflation and what a president can do….if anything.

Inflation. 

It killed the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, relegating both to the status of a one-term president. And broad dissatisfaction with post-pandemic inflation weighed heavily on President Joe Biden’s popularity … and may have been one of the factors in his decision not to seek a second term. 

But is inflation really a president’s fault? And what, if anything, can a commander-in-chief do to fix it?

The relationship between inflation and the man or woman in the White House is complex because inflation itself is complex. And while the president cannot control inflation, per se, they can certainly influence it. 

So, let’s break it down, starting with what drives inflation.

Inflation is the rate at which prices rise over time. Or, put differently, it measures how much your money is worth relative to the goods and services you can buy with it. 

The reasons for inflation are varied, but ultimately, they all come down to basic supply and demand. That’s how all markets work. When demand is higher than supply, prices rise to compensate. Likewise, when supply outpaces demand, prices fall.

Both aggregate supply and aggregate demand can be influenced by government policy, though not necessarily by the president. 

https://www.kiplinger.com/personal-finance/inflation/can-a-president-fix-inflation

As you can see the Federal Reserves is where inflation has it’s start….government policies can have an effect one way or the other but a president cannot end inflation on his/her own.

“But it’s also not within the president’s power alone to control inflation and it’s not realistic to expect it. “

Think about this….the Fed is lowering interest rates will that drive inflation to rise….after all we are sitting at 2.9% or so the reports go.

Know what you are voting for in the upcoming election….do not vote for idle words.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Food Prices Are Too Damn High

If you shop for groceries these days then you are already mumbling that mantra……prices started accelerating during the pandemic…..prices shot up and stayed up….

U.S. grocery prices jumped significantly after the federal government issued lockdown guidance in March 2020 in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. 

Shutdowns across the globe, instituted to curb the spread of the virus, caused disruptions in shipping food from producers to manufacturing facilities to warehouses and supermarkets and restaurants.

Prices first began to surge in April 2020, but the biggest increases came in 2022, as inflation started to erupted and the Federal Reserve tightened monetary policy. These, plus a confluence of other factors, led to the biggest food-price increases in decades.

Here are the four biggest causes for the food prices to shoot higher.

https://www.thestreet.com/economy/why-are-groceries-so-expensive

I am old so I can step back in history and remember when a pound of sugar was 19 cents, a loaf of bread was about 25 cents, a head of cabbage was less than a quarter and a pound of hamburger was less than a dollar….but those memories are worthless these days just something to bitch about, right?

Okay let’s look at the prices….say since the last election in 2020…..

If you feel like your trips to the grocery store have been putting a bigger dent in your wallet lately, you’re not imagining things. Food prices in the United States have risen significantly over the past few years due to high inflation.

During the last federal election on Nov. 3, 2020, food inflation was running at just 3.9% annually. Fast forward to March 2024, and the latest data shows food prices have risen a whopping 25.8% since then. To put that in perspective, a basket of groceries that cost $100 in November 2020 would now set you back $125.80. That’s an increase of nearly $26 for the exact same food items.

The biggest price hikes have been for specific grocery categories like eggs, dairy products, cereals and baked goods. But price rises have impacted all food groups across the board.

The inflation data shows egg prices were among the worst hit, with the average price soaring 54% from November 2020 to March 2024. So if a dozen eggs cost you $2 at the election, that same dozen eggs would now average around $3.08.

Dairy products like milk, cheese and butter also saw major price hikes over the past 3.5 years. Milk increased 36%, with a $3 gallon now costing $4.08 on average. Cheese and butter prices jumped around 30% over that period.

The price of cereals and bakery products, like bread, rolls, crackers and cookies, wasn’t far behind — rising around 28% since November 2020. So a $4 box of cereal back then would now cost you about $5.12 on average.

The cost of meat, poultry, fish and eggs collectively rose 23.5% since the last election. Beef prices were up around 20%, with chicken increasing over 25%. So $5 worth of ground beef in 2020 would now average $6.

For fresh fruits and vegetables, the price hike averaged around 21% over that 3.5 year period — a $3 pound of apples in November 2020 would now typically cost you $3.63.

hile overall food inflation started gradually pulling back after that August 2022 peak, prices have remained stubbornly high for most grocery categories compared to pre-COVID-19-pandemic levels.

So while the latest 2.2% annual food inflation rate for March 2024 seems more manageable, it doesn’t negate the cumulative 25.8% increase in grocery prices since that November 2020 election. And it remains to be seen if that downward trend in food inflation will continue in the coming months.

That is just since the last election, 2020, and now the grapevine has been setting the consumer up for higher meat prices with the accusation that swine and beef may be infected with bird flu.

This is a never ending thing…..food prices go up and seldom come down….maybe there should be some sort of speech from the president on the handling of food prices…

Just a thought!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Why Inflation?

We are told weekly if not daily that inflation is down then why does my wallet look and feel lighter?

If inflation is so low and manageable then why are my eggs a dollar more than a year ago?

There are many excuses these days…..price of gas….death of chickens….labor strikes….we could on and on but why bother….you get the picture.

One another side of this story….we give deep tax cuts to corporations which makes them more profitable and do they do the right thing and reward us peasants with lower prices?

What the Hell is going on?

Inflation has eased over the last two years, and with supply chains no longer struggling to keep up with demand and companies’ business costs stabilizing, an analysis out Thursday asks: Why haven’t American households seen the benefits of a more secure economy, with the prices of consumer goods and services falling?

The answer, said economic justice think tank Groundwork Collaborative, is that high prices linked to the coronavirus pandemic were never just the result of higher labor and production costs—but were partially caused by corporations’ deliberate price gouging.

When the pandemic upended the U.S. economy, said the group, “businesses jumped on the opportunity to pass these costs on to consumers—and added a little extra to pad their profits.”

“The worst part?” said the group. “They’re still doing it.”

Groundwork analyzed corporate earnings reports starting in 2021, focusing on numerous industries in which consumers were facing sky-high prices.

“This research revealed CEOs openly bragging to their shareholders about their ability to raise prices beyond their rising costs to increase profits,” said Groundwork. “To justify these moves, CEOs hid behind the cover of supply chain issues and the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/corporate-profits-inflation

After lying for decades to the American people some are starting to wake up…..they are told that corporations need tax cuts to be competitive and in doing so would take the price of stuff down…..if you have been keeping track of your spending you know it is all so much bullsh*t.

Corporate tax cuts do nothing for you and increases their profits as they smoke those god awful smelling cigars.

You want lower prices?

Then do what must be done!

Corporations are the problem then elect people that will fix the problem.  (I know they are hard to find because most candidates owe corporations their political lives)

We will continue to see prices rise until someone finds a way to repair this system.

I am done preaching.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Eggs-actly What We Need

Awhile back we were hit in the pocket book by the rapid rise of egg prices….the excuse for the price increases was that because of avian flu many egg layers had to be killed.

Of course I felt I needed to inject my humble opinion on the price of eggs….read it here…

Is It Price Gouging?

Now there is a wave of dissent against big ag…..

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders this weekend renewed his call to break up agricultural monopolies after the nation’s largest egg producer reported that its quarterly profits soared more than 700%.

Cal-Maine Foods, which controls about 20% of the U.S. egg market, announced last week that its revenue for the quarter ending February 25 rose 109% to $997.5 million, while profit for the same period skyrocketed 718% to $323.2 million.

In a statement, Cal-Maine president and CEO Sherman Miller attributed the company’s soaring profits to “the ongoing epidemic of highly pathogenic avian influenza which has significantly reduced the nation’s egg-laying capacity.”

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “U.S. egg inventories were 29% lower in the final week of December 2022 than at the beginning of the year,” while “more than 43 million egg-laying hens were lost to the disease itself or to depopulation since the outbreak began in February 2022.”

Sanders (I-Vt.)—who took on agricultural monopolies while campaigning for president in 2016 and 2020—questioned Cal-Maine’s narrative in a tweet arguing that “we must break up Big Ag and enact a windfall profits tax.”

Sanders wasn’t the only congressional critic of Cal-Maine’s latest profits.

“While working families paid record prices for eggs, Cal-Maine raked over 700% more in profits—without reporting a single case of avian flu,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted on Thursday. “We need to crack down on corporate price gouging to provide Americans with relief at the grocery store.”

Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), who is running for U.S. Senate, wrote on Twitter last week that “corporate greed is driving inflation.”

“We need more competition to drive down prices,” she added. “In the meantime, I’m demanding answers from Cal-Maine directly.”

https://www.commondreams.org/news/why-are-egg-prices-so-high

Granted the prices have come down a bit but they are still high and I will back Bernie on his crusade.

This is an all too familiar situation…price gouging that few ever pay a price for screwing the public.

I will watch to see how quick this investigation is thrown into the dust bin.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–20Feb23

Inflation has been kicking the crap out of the American consumer….and it just keeps getting worse….

People are using the credit cards to help get by….

U.S. consumer credit card debt has jumped to nearly $1 trillion, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday.

Credit card balances increased more than $60 billion over the three months ending in December, lifting the total amount of U.S. credit card debt to an all-time high of $986 billion, the report found.

The skyrocketing credit card balance has coincided with an increase in the interest rates paid on such debt, crunching household budgets as high inflation eats away at the savings that many amassed during the pandemic.

The average credit card interest rate offered in the U.S. over the last three months of 2022 stood at 21.6%, according to WalletHub, a jump from about 18% a year prior. An aggressive series of interest rate hikes imposed by the Federal Reserve has caused the jump in credit card rates.

https://abcnews.go.com/Business/us-credit-card-debt-now-totals-1-trillion/story

A trillion dollars that is about the amount the War Department’s recent budget….

Eventually all this debt will be called in and thus an economic collapse will be in our future.

I am fortunate for I have no credit debt…but that is just me.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

 

Inflation–How Did It Come To This?

Tomorrow we go to our polling stations and cast our votes for the ‘future’ of this nation.

We are told by the MSM that the most important issue of this election is the economy more specifically rising inflation…..watching the events and the sounds around this election I do not agree that it will be the deciding factor.

If that is true why has seemingly no one explained how it came to this.

One side blames Biden for the disaster of the economy and the other side blames…well whatever is the most convenient…..but just what or who brought us to this moment in our election process?

One of the culprits for this crisis is being dropped at the feet of the Fed.

The Federal Reserve has made two major policy blunders in the last 25 years. 

The first was being unaware that the foundation of the U.S. banking system had been eroded away by complex mortgage securities that carried high credit ratings but turned out to be toxic during a broad housing downturn. The resulting meltdown in valuations caused the global financial crisis in 2008 that hobbled the U.S. economy for years.

More recently, a misreading of the strength of the labor market and the persistence of price shocks sparked by the pandemic led to the highest inflation rate in 40 years and the final chapter of this saga is still to be written. The policy error paved the way to make 2022 the worst year in financial markets arguably since the 1930s. Both stocks and bonds have plummeted and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome “Jay” Powell is at the center of the financial turmoil, landing him on the MarketWatch 50 list of the most influential people in markets. 

Critics have pounced on the Fed. Powell’s insistence that rising inflation was “transitory” and would quickly dissipate once the economy reopened more fully has been called “probably the worst inflation call in Fed history” by Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser for Allianz. The economist Stephen Roach has compared Powell to former Fed chair Arthur Burns, whose indecisiveness under intense political pressure led to the crushing inflation of the 1970s. As recently as March 2022, when the Labor Department was reporting a 7.9% annual rise in consumer prices, Powell and the Fed were just wrapping up their injections of liquidity into financial markets.

How Powell, who is not a trained economist, is ultimately remembered will depend on whether he’s able to tame inflation without driving the U.S. into a deep recession. It could still all end relatively well, but the debate about what signs the U.S. central bank ignored and why will be studied and debated for years to come.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-did-inflation-surge-to-a-40-year-high-here-are-4-causes-of-the-worst-monetary-policy-mistake-in-years-11667318263

I tried last week to help fill in the gaps in our knowledge of inflation and even included some ‘solutions’ given by some in the GOP….

It’s Election Time–It’s Inflation

If you want to help this country then please consider all angles….do not just vote for pasty faced old white guy….for their solutions are antiquated and not going to actually help in the 21st century.

Please take the time to vote.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”