As Inflation Fears Rise, Biden Starts Looking For Scapegoats

[Geee]

Issues & Insights

You know inflation is a problem when it gets harder to find something for $1 at Dollar Tree stores. And that’s exactly what’s happening as the discount chain announced that many of its goods would carry a price of up to $1.50.

There’s been more bad news on the inflation front this week, so, naturally, Biden is looking for someone or something else to blame – other than his own economic policies.

 

As soon as Biden conjured up his reckless $1.9 trillion “rescue” plan, economists left and right said that pumping that much deficit-financed spending into a fast-growing economy risked sparking an inflationary spiral, to which team Biden said “nonsense.”

When prices did spike in the spring, Biden insisted that “the overwhelming consensus is it’s going to pop up a little bit and then go back down.” 

That didn’t happen. This week, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell, who’d previously dismissed inflation fears, said price increases have “been larger and longer-lasting than anticipated,” and that this will “likely remain so in coming months before moderating.” The Fed now predicts that inflation this year will be 4.2%, up from its June forecast of 3.4%.

Also this week, the London-based research firm Capital Economics said that the U.S. may be heading into an “era of higher inflation.”

[Valin]

@Geee

He better start finding one Quick

Got Milk? Cow-Juice Prices Are Soaring Amid Higher Feed Costs, Smaller Herds

Tyler Durden

Monday, Nov 08, 2021

Soaring supermarket prices might not seem like a big issue for the top 10% of Americans who've enjoyed a period of asset price inflation thanks to the Federal Reserve, but for the working poor who don't own assets and are stuck in a renting society, every single price increase for food is eating away at their real wages. 

Add milk to the long list of foods that are getting more expensive at supermarkets across the country. Bloomberg reports retail prices for a gallon of milk are up 26% at $3.59 since bottoming at $2.84 in July 2018. 

 

There are several factors at work pushing milk prices higher. First, the number of dairy cows has collapsed to the lowest in a decade, which crimps output. Foreign dairy producers, such as major ones in the European Union, New Zealand, and Australia, are also experiencing declining outputs. On top of this all, the cost to feed dairy cows and operate a dairy farm is becoming more expensive thanks to soaring commodity prices, suggesting prices will continue to rise well into 2022. 

For the average household, dozens of gallons of milk are purchased each year, and for the working poor, every incremental price increase adds up. But it's not just milk and dairy products that are on the rise, almost every product at the grocery store has jumped in the past year. For example, meat prices -- boneless chuck roast have risen 28% in the last year. 

Much of the increases are due to the knock-on effect of rising commodity prices, labor shortages, shipping congestion, and increased transportation costs. This week, it was reported that Oreo cookies, Ritz crackers, and Sour Patch Kids are the next supermarket items to get more expensive

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But at least No Mean Tweets.

 

[Valin]

BIDINFLATION: Kraft Heinz to raise prices of products up to 20 percent

A Kraft Heinz spokesperson stated that the price increase was implemented to "to help offset the escalating inflation that the entire industry is facing.

Hannah Nightingale

November 9, 2021

As inflation continues to wreck havoc on American consumers' pockets, Kraft Heinz, the American food company behind items such as Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Heinz Ketchup, Jell-O, and more is expected to raise prices of many of their products by up to 20 percent.

Overall, prices on most of the company's products are expected to rise an average of 5 percent to combat inflation, according to Pittsburg Cable News Channel (PCNC).

Inflation in the United States is sitting at 5.4 percent as of September, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The price of Jell-O and puddings produced by Kraft Heinz will be going go up 16 percent, and Macaroni & Cheese will be going up 20 percent.

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[Valin]

Back To The 70's

 

 

[Valin]

New Inflation Numbers Are Here and They’re Really Bad

Katie Pavlich

Nov 09, 2021

New wholesale inflation numbers from September are in and once again prove the rapid increase in prices for everyday items isn't "transitory" as President Joe Biden has repeatedly claimed.

Wholesale prices rose by 8.6 percent compared to September 2020, matching the largest increase on record. 

"The Labor Department reported Tuesday that its producer price index — which measures inflation before it hits consumers — rose 0.6% last month from September, pushed higher by surging gasoline prices. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, wholesale inflation was up 0.4% in October from September and 6.8% from a year ago," the Associated Press reports. "More than 60% of the September-October increase in overall producer prices was caused by a 1.2% increase in the price of wholesale goods as opposed to services. A 6.7% jump in wholesale gasoline prices helped drive goods prices up."

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[Valin]

History Says Don’t Panic About Inflation

Paul Krugman

Nov. 11 2021

Back in July the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers posted a thoughtful article to its blog titled, “Historical Parallels to Today’s Inflationary Episode.” The article looked at six surges in inflation since World War II and argued persuasively that current events don’t look anything like the 1970s. Instead, the closest parallel to 2021’s inflation is the first of these surges, the price spike from 1946 to 1948.

Wednesday’s consumer price report was ugly; inflation is running considerably hotter than many people, myself included, expected. But nothing about it contradicted C.E.A.’s analysis — on the contrary, the similarity to early postwar inflation looks stronger than ever. What we’re experiencing now is a lot more like 1947 than like 1979.

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Another lesson, which is extremely relevant right now (hello, Senator Manchin), is that an inflation spurt is no reason to cancel long-term investment plans. The inflation surge of the 1940s was followed by an epic period of public investment in America’s future, which included the construction of the Interstate Highway System. That investment didn’t reignite inflation — if anything, by improving America’s logistics, it probably helped keep inflation down. The same can be said of the Biden administration’s spending proposals, which would do little to boost short-term demand and would help long-term supply.

So yes, that was an ugly inflation report, and we hope that future reports will look better. But people making knee-jerk comparisons with the 1970s and screaming about stagflation are looking at the wrong history. When you look at the right history, it tells you not to panic.

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[SDwaters]

Paul Krugman’s WORST Economic Predictions

From Dan Bongino

https://bongino.com/paul-krugmans-worst-economic-predictions/

 

https://bongino.com/even-more-paul-krugman-predictions-gone-wrong/