WaPo reports... with predictable efforts to support Biden.
Americans are finally getting a break from inflation, with prices for gasoline, used cars and health insurance all falling over the past year, relieving families and buoying President Biden’s 2024 reelection bid....
Stubbornly high grocery prices represent a critical drain on the finances of tens of millions of people and remain, along with housing, perhaps the most persistent economic challenge for the Biden administration as it tries to convince Americans the economy is back on solid footing....
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135 comments:
democracy died in darkness
Fat bodies to fatheads. I see what you did there!
…any talk about the layoffs? Surely they talked about the layoffs. No?
When only one (Tech) of eleven sectors of the economy has a positive forecast per S&P… that isn’t “solid footing”.
After Biden is appointed in 2021, prices go up 35%. Three years later, prices drop back to a mere 25% increase. Biden's spokesidiots claim victory. The media nods. Lefties swallow it whole.
As with so many of these "basket" numbers, 25% doesn't seem right as, while some things have not gone up all that much, the things I spend the most on seem to have gone up much more than that. The produce section, especially, seems full of things that are twice as expensive. When I think of grocery shopping, I think of those things much more than I think of the things that have not gone up nearly as much. So maybe it's all psychological, but maybe an overall inflation rate isn't reflective of the change in my grocery bill.
Of course, what really matters is not people's struggles to live within their means, but on how that effects the Democrats' chances of holding on to power.
Gasoline prices here in the northwest corner of Virginia recently did drop for a while, but now have started back up. Groceries are still expensive, particularly when contrasted with 2019.
Most of the major stock market averages are at all-time highs. So what is the malaise really about? Long-term ruination trends, IMO; financial and, even worse, social. They become the same in the end.
Prices have jumped; insurance has been plaguing us. The political side of the costs of living in this little town we moved to have tripled in three years, between taxes and waste-hauling fees. Bad. But more and more people recognize, in one fashion or another, the fecklessness of the nation's rulers. They are Ruiners, and people get it. The Althouse fave newspapers can stay clueless, or pretend to cluelessness, but it ain't working.
Taxers-and-spenders truly never learn and never change. When all you have is a hammer the world is full of nails. When all you have is a screwdriver the world is full of screws.
Biden offered umpteen subsidies in the name of COVID19. When you give away money people tend to spend all they are given. This drives up prices because money must eventually translate into real things and real activity. Take away the excess gift money and inflation disappears.
What did WaPo say about the "transitory inflation" following the rampant spending and housing subsidies of Biden's first two years? They ignored the 800 pound gorilla:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/07/26/inflation-causes/
Even lefty PolitiFact blames Biden's American Rescue Plan "half way," and then uses the COVID19 shell game to ignore that Biden's ill-conceived or dictatorial pandemic lockdowns were to blame for the shortages.
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/20/jane-timken/bidens-american-rescue-plan-fueled-inflation-so-di/
Credit to Biden for being present when there’s China deflation, European stagflation, and I suppose for not using lawfare and agency creep to turn off domestic production during an election season. Points off for inciting geopolitical uncertainty and sending pallets of USD to the ME…
So I went and searched on "used car price inflation" and get the story "Used car prices down from *record* highs," so I guess my question is ar they back down to where they were before the pandemic caused them to skyrocket? And I am pretty sure the answer is no. This is like Biden claiming that he was responsible for climbing employment numbers, when it was just us coming out of the pandemic.
But gas prices are down, and it's Putin's fault. The sanctions on Russian oil are largely meaningless so he is putting plenty of oil into the market, and the cutoff of cheap natural gas to Europe by terror attack on infrastructure has dragged those economies into recession, and now Europeans are not buying gasoline and diesel.
Oh, and GDP growth? Well, to paraphrase Lloyd Benson, "I could make the economy hum with one and a half trillion dollars in kited checks too!" The rise in GDP is about a third of the borrowing we did to achieve it, from what I understand. I think that the deficit for January was in the neighborhood of $200 billion, which was the same as the annual deficit that horrified Lloyd Benson.
And our Republican House is busy passing a nearly half a trillion dollar tax cut, for some reason, to make inflation worse, and put upward pressure on interest rates.
Great news for family farmers. Plus a bonus benefit on the obesity epidemic.
Thanks, Joe!!!!
Gas has come down sightly from the records highs of last 2022. However, I've seen no evidence of prices coming down on any of the other items, and especially groceries. Food items continue to increase. Also, monthly utilities and house/insurance are two costs that have increased with each new billing statement.
The media continues to gas-light us when it comes to the economy. Reduced inflation does not mean prices have gone down, it just means prices are rising at a reduced percentage rate from prior months. "Bidenomics" has been bad for our nation and should the latest bill that just passed the House also pass in the Senate and be signed into law, we can expect more inflation and interest rates that are higher for longer.
When asked for his thoughts on high grocery prices Joe "InflationHitler" Biden said, "Goats are like mushrooms! And it's in the constitution that if you buy some broccoli that's all you need. Listen fat, anything more than that and you spank dudes for trunalimunumaprzure! Enough malarkey you ponyfaced dog soldiers, the fish are slanted and require beards because I'm scared of toasters!"
Americans are finally getting a break from inflation, with prices for gasoline, used cars and health insurance all falling over the past year
What a set of examples! If only it were true. We are getting no “break” from the inflation built into prices and compounding for almost three years. The clock doesn’t turn back just because current inflation is close to normal levels now. Gasoline they love to use but only at moments like this when it’s in a dip and it ignores the context of how Biden purposely choked off the supply domestically and made Russia and Iran big players in world markets. Again prices are higher now at the pump than when Biden’s term started.
Now the good stuff! “Used cars and health insurance” they claim have fallen. Really? First let’s acknowledge that during COVID the used car market went nuts with many late models doubling in sticker price. Double! It has remained stubbornly high due to the crazy EV push from DC and various states like California. They are nowhere near historic averages for used cars and the supply is drying up as people cling to what works in fear good cars are being outlawed. Health insurance meanwhile has outpaced every other inflationary rise in the economy since Obama passed the ironically named Affordable Care Act. Historic annual increases of 10 to 25% year after year. Copays rising at the same time. Most of us get health insurance through work and choose plans in the fall that took effect at the first of the year. Did we get a huge cut that helped our monthly budget? Hell no. It went up again. After more than doubling since Saint Obama left office.
Maybe I’ll try and see what the WaPo does to back up these extraordinary claims. But I’m sick of the stupid gaslighting game the Media plays. Articles like this don’t help Biden they further degrade the low esteem in which we hold the “news” business.
Grocery prices have risen by more like 33 percent based on the cola index. Absolute best sale price on Pepsi or Coke 12-pack cans, always on sale at one chain or another, was 3 USD. Absolute best price today is 4 USD. Based on hamburger, best sale price was 3 USD, now best sale price is 4 USD. Chips not quite as much. Produce more. Canned goods more. Chicken a little less.
We have deflation occurring in used car prices and insurance? Do they have evidence? Did they base insurance on the CPI that used a new calculation that claims health insurance dropped double digit percentage points? Has anyone seen their insurance premium drop? (Mine is going up 10% next year). Has anyone noticed healthcare costs dropping?
We were heading for the cliff at 90 MPH, and now we are only doing so at 75 MPH.
Great!
Went over to EIA.gov and looked at spot prices for Gulf Coast gasoline. They are a bit behind what you see at the pump, so the latest (monthly average) is September 2023 at $2.80 (rounded down to nearest tenth). January 2023 was $2.50. September 2022 was also $2.50, and September was $2.20 (rounded this one up from $2.199).
with predictable efforts to support Biden
Cruel neutrality.
Great news for family farmers
Ag inputs are a fraction of the cost of most of the stuff in grocery stores. The box costs more than the corn flakes. The rest is processing, transportation, and marketing.
Oh, "stubbornly high," as if the evil grocers in the smoke-filled rooms are champing at their cigars as they meet to decide just how high to keep those prices. (The writer could have said "persistently high" if she didn't want to imply malicious intent.)
Bidenomics has done wonders for my strength and fitness. A few short years ago $150 in groceries required me to take multiple trips to carry them into my house. I can now do that with one arm.
What once was bad is now good.
I’m detecting a blog theme.
Those darn stubbornly high grocery prices....they are naughty...they need a spanking.
I’m calling bullshit on 25%. I’m in a grocery store 3x a week. I’m registering shock every time at the price jump of things I get all the time. The last time I bought Torani syrup for my coffee, it was $4.99. I’ve purchased the same product every 3 months for years. For years, it was $4.99. Now it’s 7.99. The price of things i buy regularly— milk, cheese, ground meat, ground lamb…are up wayyy more than 25%. Lemons were $1.00 apiece. Ok they were large. I wonder if anyone in Washington goes to the grocery?
Groceries, more than used cars, are going to be what people remember. Every day. As they try to feed their families.
Might be 25% for everything including stuff people don't buy, but for the stuff we do buy it's much more than 25%. Cheese, deli meat, milk, bread, and eggs are up close to 100% from 2-3 years ago.
Very inconvenient for Biden that everyone needs food and shelter.
The increase in the cost of both is not an accident. It is planned.
Those currently installed and running America and Western Europe do not want a thriving independent population. It's obvious.
War, fake climate scams, bullshit clot shots, wasted tax money, gender confusion, racial division, corrupt courts, and prosecutors all play to their advantage.
Prices "falling" to levels still higher than the prices in 2020 aren't exactly a net benefit.
Yesterday gas was 3.06, a 6 days ago I found gas for 2.23.
Remember Obama advocated for auto fuel pricing to mirror Europe.
Dems agenda to regulate fossil fuels out of use, also includes reducing its use by increasing the price. They will do that by regulation and taxation.
Meat and Dairy are also going to be regulated and priced out of reach to reduce consumption. The rich of course will not feel the squeeze.
Oh, babay. It's a lot more than 25%. But then it's democrats. They aleays lie. Every time.
Full time jobs dropped 63K and part time jobs rose by 96K. So we all get more jobs!
"Most of the major stock market averages are at all-time highs."
When denominated in funny money.
Ann and the rest of you are a bunch of doom and gloomers.
The economy is great and things are getting back to normal.
If Biden continues to keep us on this path back to normalcy then American voters will have a clear choice between that or going back to the 24/7 of craziness that is Trump.
I am pretty sure American voters will choose Biden.
One other reason food prices might be more strongly impacted - my son, a single, disabled adult, receives EBT benefits (food stamps). Normally his benefit is around $60 per month. During Covid, he got over $250 per month! Since I don't even use them often, I was shocked to check the balance after a couple of months, and there was over $500 available! I can understand a small increase, but a 200% increase seems a little outlandish. And food stamps generally must be spent on food.
“Great news for family farmers.”
I sure hope you’re being sarcastic. Or else you’ve never checked the farm markets. A farmer gets paid what he’s told he’ll be paid and he pays for supplies what he’s told he’ll pay. I respect this blog enough to not put in words what I’m thinking right now.
"The rents I'm collecting are higher than ever, and the real wages I'm paying my workers are dirt cheap! America is already great!" - Democratic and Republican mega donors.
Don't worry though, the 8 million people who have swarmed across our borders in the past three years, exceeding the number of births here, don't need housing or food, so they are not driving up the cost of housing or food, and they don't work at jobs, so they are not driving down wages.
"The most important dictate of the Party was to ignore the evidence of your own eyes."
Good thing they stripped out food and energy prices from calculating inflation rates or things would look really really bad!
One thing the corporate media no longer does is go out and talk with people in Jackson, MS; Renovo, PA; or Alliance, NE and report on the effects 3 years of steep inflation is having on their lives.
Shameful.
Gasoline prices are down from their peak, but they're still over $1 a gallon higher than when Slow Joe took office. Q: Who know that cancelling oil leases, draining the Strategic Political Petroleum Reserve, and killing the Keystone Pipeline could have an impact on oil prices? A: Anyone with a brain.
Some grocery prices are lower than their peak. Egg prices were insane for a while due to millions of chickens being killed because of a bird flu. As the chicken population recovered, egg prices declined from their record highs, but they're still about 70% higher at my local grocery store than they were in 2020. For grocery items that rose due to inflation and not in response to a crisis, those prices are much higher than before and are unlikely to ever come down.
The Democrats are claiming the economy is doing great. Millions of people who jobs were destroyed during the Covid lockdowns are finding work again, now that the government boot has been eased a bit on business owners' necks. Many of those business closed and will never be back. They claim economic growth but ignore the fiction of using government spending as part of the GDP calculation. Almost all of the "growth" has been fueled by deficit spending.
I predict the Fed will cut interest rates one or more times in the months leading up to the election. This will make the stock market soar and housing sales will increase. The resulting inflation will take longer to hit, probably after the election. The Fed rate cuts will be a campaign donation to the DNC.
That can't be! We are assured by the Hack-D press that everything is wonderful because of Joe "above the law" Biden.
Also Media: "The border is secure!" Your lying eyes, everyone.
Imagine the stories WaPo would be running if a Republican were in the White House.
Does anyone doubt the stories would be about starving seniors on fixed incomes, children whose only source of quality nutrition is the school cafeteria, and how the economy is the worst in the modern era?
This is why the media has zero credibility.
It's analogous to the old joke about lawyers pounding the table. When the numbers aren't being helpful, change the way the numbers are tallied. The Consumer Price Index has become so over-massaged that it no longer is relatable to past performance, nor is it terribly relatable to the consumer experience. It's become a Press Box Metric, useful for people at podiums. When those spokesmen start telling you that the 'bottom line' is that things are much better, but they do it using 'relative' language, they're lying to you.
Any fool can see that their grocery and cost-of-living-related expenses have been going on a sharply higher trajectory over the past few years. And just about everybody notices that the trajectory is not quite as high this year, compared to last year - but it's still much higher than it was 4 years ago.
The Fed has been pumping so much money into the system for the past decade, people have become accustomed to 'free' money. It remains to be seen whether there will be a soft or hard landing from that poorly-advised policy.
After the engineered Democrat Chi Com Virus - and the installation of crook Barisma Joe - everything went to shit.
Hack-D lying liars in the hack D-Media deny and pimp their One Party corruption.
While prices on some grocery items have increased, the cost of a chocolate cake remains comfortably within the budget of most American families. Not the fancy, double layer kind you buy in bakeries but the single layer Entremann kind you get in supermarkets. That's the kind real Americans and not country club Republicans eat. As of the present time, there are no prohibitions against its consumption even by diabetic Americans although there is some talk of going in that direction. So let it be known that when Biden says "Let them eat cake", he's suggesting a practical solution to the problems faced by ordinary Americans unlike the Republicans who are always bitching about gas prices.
It's good to remember one of my favorite observations as a professional mathematician: "Democrats were born without the Math gene." So it's not their fault that they're puzzled why inflation won't go down when they keep spending and giving away money, mandating increased minimum wage levels, mandating the use of more expensive energy sources, eliminating less-expensive fossil fuels and driving up the cost of delivery and distribution of everything, etc.
It's a birth defect, people. Their motives are good, but Math just isn't fair.
Big Daddy now has 10m illegals here and more coming... wars in the middle east.. inflation... massive crime in the cities...
So folks.. you want to vote for Biden again? REAP WHAT YOU SOW.
A twelve-pack of Diet Coke cost $5.99 (including deposit on the cans) at the neighborhood CBS when Trump was in office, jumped to $10.99 post-Biden, hasn't gone back down at all.
I don't think Americans are in the mood to believe any of the election-year conversions, reversals and assurances coming from Biden.
I can say that since Covid struck, we are down 2 grocery consumers in the house as our younger kids went off to college, yet my weekly grocery bill is the same as it was when they were living and eating with us. And the younger one, a 6'2" lad who weighed 150 lb and was always hungry, ate four eggs a day at breakfast and drank two gallons of milk a week.
Once written, twice... said...
“The economy is great and things are getting back to normal.”
Says someone from Argentina.
"going back to the 24/7 of craziness that is Trump."
So you are enjoying all of the wars then?
What has happened to the price of a Republican cloth coat?
Back when Trump was president I had a rule for the kids that we could buy any cereal that was under 10 cents an ounce at Aldi. They pretty much had their pick of off brand Fruit Loops, Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes, Golden Grahams, etc. For the past 3 years the list has shortened. Off brand Honey Nut Cheerios, Honey Bunches of Oats, corn flakes, and Frosted Mini Wheats were out hold outs last year. Then in the fall, frosted shredded wheat became the last option. I just looked this week. It was over 13 cents an ounce.
I may be getting up there in years and the memory not what it used to be but...
Isn't EVERYTHING still a crap load more expensive than when puddenhead took office?
Inflation isn't down, it is just increasing at a slower pace. NOT the same thing.
Imagine what the papers/news would be saying if we swap any "R" for the current "D" in the WH.
You're not getting a break in car price inflation if you cannot afford to buy one regardless. The median price for a "cheep" new car is over 30K! It really wasn't that long ago you could get a reliable new car for under 20k.
I suppose this is one of the ways Biden sends the message to the thieves stealing retailers blind, time to start on the grocery stores!
Old man screams at clouds and grocery stores.
US President Joe Biden delivers remarks as he attends the Brookland Baptist Banquet Center for their "Sunday Lunch" in West Columbia, South Carolina, on January 28, 2024.
Biden Takes Aim at Grocery Chains Over Food Prices,
President Biden has begun to accuse stores of overcharging shoppers, as food costs remain a burden for consumers and a political problem for the president.
"But for all we’ve done to bring prices down, there are still too many corporations in America ripping people off: price gouging, junk fees, greedflation, shrinkflation," the president continued.
The president said that Americans are "tired" of being "played for suckers" by grocery stores across the country.
"Well, it’s going to stop. Americans, we’re tired of being played for suckers," Biden said to resounding applause. "And that’s why we’re going to keep these guys — keep on them and get the prices down."
Once written, twice... said...
Ann and the rest of you are a bunch of doom and gloomers.
The economy is great and things are getting back to normal.
My favorite guru Peter Zeihan has said the US geography (the world's largest temperate arable land mass overlaid with the longest navigable river system, oceans on both sides, tundra to the north, and deserts to the south) is something that we haven't been able to screw up in nearly three centuries of trying.
The coming break down of China and the zombie remnants of the Cold War Global Order are likely to drive a major infrastructure and manufacturing build-out in the entire Americas. Basically if we want "stuff" we're going to have to (re)start making it ourselves.
So in the long term, with some bumps and shakes, we're likely to survive.
There are lots of things that can cause significant pain in the medium to short term especially if we continue to fight against the trends rather than flow with them.
We certainly can use additional labor due to our demographics but it needs to be directed into skilled building and manufacturing trades, not nannies and lawn maintenance workers. We also need to incentivize the current group of un- and under-employed mostly male citizens into similar occupations especially energy production. We need to stop squandering money on dubious climate-control schemes.
We need to quit fighting battles that keep the sea lanes open for our global competitors.
The basic problem with Democrats is all their policies are fighting against these current global trends rather than flowing with them. Their spending priorities are directed towards white- and pink-collar suburban jobs rather than blue-collar energy and construction projects. They continue to support off-shore manufacturing and processing rather than re-shoring. They support continuing the COVID practice of paying lots of people for not working. They (and their neo-con allies) keep making up bogus reasons to support foreign interventions when they aren't applying the same policies that failed Chamberlain in 1939.
From CMS.gov (https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/2024-medicare-parts-b-premiums-and-deductibles):
"The standard monthly premium for Medicare Part B enrollees will be $174.70 for 2024, an increase of $9.80 from $164.90 in 2023. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B beneficiaries will be $240 in 2024, an increase of $14 from the annual deductible of $226 in 2023."
"The Medicare Part A inpatient hospital deductible that beneficiaries pay if admitted to the hospital will be $1,632 in 2024, an increase of $32 from $1,600 in 2023. "
If healthcare insurance costs have gone down, why is the Biden Administration raising rates on people with Medicare? Are they not mostly on fixed income? Shouldn't they be benefitting from the lower rates the industry is seeing? Must be nice to get 10% from your son's business dealings to help cover the cost of Medicare increases from the government.
Birches: why are you poisoning your children with high fructose corn syrup coated refined carbohydrate flakes? Eggs are the perfect food for developing brains and growing bodies at any price.
Cost of higher education and college tuition has outpaced inflation for decades.
How come Biden and other liberals aren't bitching about that?
They are still lying about food prices. My grocery bills last year were 50% higher than they were just in 2021- and this is with me buying more and more generic brands as time goes by.
Do you know why the stock market is doing so well? It's because a lot of big companies are laying off workers. 4% here, 7% there. It doesn't sound like much, but when you have thousands of employees, that's a lot of people out of work. The announcements might not make it into your particular news feed, but the folks on Wall street certainly notice. And they just love it when a business reduces its' labor costs. Does wonders for the bottom line and that's what really matters, isn't it?
Hey, Once written, twice…
Why did you make your profile unavailable right after I referred to your location (Argentina) as stated in your now-unavailable profile? Bad faith?
"If healthcare insurance costs have gone down, why is the Biden Administration raising rates on people with Medicare? Are they not mostly on fixed income? Shouldn't they be benefitting from the lower rates the industry is seeing? Must be nice to get 10% from your son's business dealings to help cover the cost of Medicare increases from the government."
Because they are lying. Last year I had a Blue Cross/Blue Shield Silver Plan I bought on Obamacare that had a $600 deductible that cost $252/month with the subsidy (maxed out) covering the rest. That policy was ended by BC/BS and I was put into the next equivalent policy with a $1800 deductible that costs $162/month. So, I am saving money out of pocket, as long as I don't use any medical care, which is likely to be the case as it is most years. However, I am probably a small minority of the people in my age bracket with these two policies the last two years- most will likely see a significant increase in out of pocket costs.
Lap it up Biden voters! This is what you wanted, this is what you got, good and hard.
William at 8:37 AM wins the internet today.
Humperdink said...
"After Biden is appointed in 2021, prices go up 35%. Three years later, prices drop back to a mere 25% increase. Biden's spokesidiots claim victory. The media nods. Lefties swallow it whole."
After Biden is appointed in 2021, he stops enforcement of the border and 10 million people pour in. Three years later, he says he can only enforce the border at 5,000 per day and only if you give him a whole bunch of money for his pet war in the Ukraine. Biden's spokesidiots claim Republican obstructionism. The media nods. Lefties swallow it whole.
We've seen that movie before. Same shit new day.
Steak and other Beef in my area have gone up at least 50 percent since 2021. Pork and Chickent prices have followed. A standard lunch meal in a mediocre restaurant has gone from $16 to $25 with less meat on the plate.
That's what people are upset about. And Biden has no plan to stop or reverse it. Quite the contrary he denies it is happening. "Hey, that gangrene has taken 1/4 of your leg, but be happy, its rate of growth has slowed".
What's astounding is no matter how Biden makes their lives worse, the dumbshit Democrats will vote for him. Look for Minnasota, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and all of New England to go solid Blue in 2024. These selfish, stupid, motherfuckers will never change until they PERSONALLY have had their lives destroyed by a Democrat administration. Until then, they'll stick their thumb up their ass, whistle dixie, and Vote D.
Inflation is a ratchet--it may slow and the Bidenistas cheer--but the prices never go back all the way down--unless and until deflation hits followed by depression.
As for Howard at 0938---howzabout going into Whole Foods and seeing eggs at $8.50 or more a dozen? Oh yes you can buy their cheapest version--$4.39 a dozen yesterday. And if you go to the local Ralphs (a Kroger grocery) best you can do is $4.19 a dozen and then up--almost to Whole Foods level. I don't much care if a chicken laid an egg in the middle of a field with valet service (which is how you reach that $8.50 a dozen level). But being more than two years old I can remember when eggs were consistently less than $2.50 a dozen at most grocery stores in California. That was back in the latter part of the Trump Presidency.
https://politicalcalculations.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-price-history-of-campbells-tomato.html
Speaking of media propping up Biden, here's an actual headline in todays's CNN: "Haley's latest jab likely to infuriate Trump."
Breaking news of the future, direct from inside Trump's head!
@ Howard
I make hot breakfast every morning; I made muffins for breakfast this morning. The cereal is for snacks and mini meals. I have teenagers that eat at least four meals a day. And they're not overweight. Right now their hearty snacks are quesadillas, burritos, or animal crackers or graham crackers with peanut butter. We're going through a lot of peanut butter. I used to buy trail mix, too expensive now. I have one son who will make eggs as a snack, but I had to stop that when eggs were $4/lb last summer.
For an interesting exercise find an original 1992 copy of Algore's book Earth In the Balance. Be careful to get the original, not the stealth edited version.
Let me know what predictions he cites in the book have come to pass.
Take it a step further, let me know what predictions climate scientists have made in the past 50 years have come to pass.
John Henry
"Americans are finally getting a break from inflation, with prices for gasoline, used cars, and health insurance all falling over the past year..."
Three very carefully chosen expenditure categories, what about the few thousand others? Still climbing we may justifiably assume. And why gasoline specifically? Is it because diesel and every other petroleum product are still climbing? Yes. And slightly cheaper gasoline will become far more expensive gasoline once we've blown through the SPR.
‘Stunning’ US jobs growth of 353,000 far outstrips estimates ~ Financial Times
Hiring Accelerated With 353,000 Jobs Added in January
Jobs report shows unemployment was 3.7% as the labor market defies predictions of a significant slowdown ~ WSJ
The Biden economy powers ahead. But US voters are sulking and are considering electing an incompetent and corrupt clown to ruin it, just for the fun of it (or whatever).
‘Stunning’ US jobs growth of 353,000 far outstrips estimates ~ Financial Times
Economic statistics from any government are automatically suspect. The initial jobs reports through 2023 were later adjusted downward. This happened in 10 out of 11 months in 2023, totaling over 430,000 jobs that never happened.
https://nypost.com/2024/01/06/business/initial-us-employment-reports-overstated-by-439000-jobs-in-2023/
I don't know how mid-low wage people with kids do it.
I am not poor, but I am shocked by grocery prices.
One of my favorite Costco prepared meals has gone up by more than 25% recently.
I can afford it, but out of principal won't buy it anymore.
'…any talk about the layoffs? Surely they talked about the layoffs. No?'
The jobs numbers have been bullshit since at least Obama, but Biden has taken that to new levels.
Every month the fantastic job numbers of the month before are adjusted downward...by a lot.
planetgeo wrote: "Democrats were born without the Math gene." So it's not their fault that they're puzzled why inflation won't go down when they keep spending and giving away money]…….”
Could you support your statement with data?
Latest full year data for 2022 has government ranked at a distant third behind finance and business services.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/247991/value-added-to-the-us-gdp-by-industry/
You may be thinking of Government spending as a share of GDP — which I note did reach 50% of GDP under Trump in 2020.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/government-spending-to-gdp
After which it came down to 37% in 2022 under Biden.
'A twelve-pack of Diet Coke cost $5.99 (including deposit on the cans) at the neighborhood CBS when Trump was in office, jumped to $10.99 post-Biden, hasn't gone back down at all.'
Now do beer.
People are quitting drinking because they can't afford to pay $10-12 for a 6-pack.
'Says someone from Argentina.'
Probably a VPN...
I get it, protein is expensive and industrial processed refined carbohydrates with added salt and sugar to make it addictive is cheap. Throw peanut butter on top of that and you basically have crack.
I don't see you mentioning feeding your children fresh fruit or vegetables. It looks to me more like your children are determining what they will eat. How did everything turn out and Lord of the flies?
It's relatively easy for kids not to get fat. I don't think that a foundation of junk food is the right way to build a healthy body nor is it the right way to develop lifelong healthy habits.
Most here know why we are seeing significant inflation. There is a tautology in Monetary Economics that MV=PQ, with M=Money Supply, V=Velocity of Money, P=Price Level, and Q=nominal value of the Quantity of goods and services. V is weakly positively correlated to P (the higher the prices (including interest rates), the quicker people spend money). Q should increase slowly year to year. Which means that M and P are strongly correlated. Which is to say that rapidly increasing the money supply will drive up price levels. And why does the money supply increase? Mostly through government. That points at the real reason for inflation - the massive deficit spending (mostly) by the Dems during the 1st 2 years of the FJB Administration, when they controlled both houses of Congress and the Presidency. I remember the bidding war by Dems on predicting the Keynesian multiplier, won by Pelosi, predicting a 5x-6x multiplier. Empirically it’s never been over 1, due to friction, even in the depths of the Great Depression, when Keynesian Economics was first developed as a way to get out of a liquidity trap. All of this has been known for over 50 years now.
Trump Says He Would Not Reappoint Powell as Fed Chair if Elected ~ Financial Times
Donald Trump would not keep Jerome Powell, says Fed chair would ‘help the Democrats’ ~ NY Post
The Fed (potentially) orchestrates one of the rarest of economic feats, a soft-landing, at a time of expansionary fiscal spending and other government distortions, and this brain trust wants him gone. Granted I won't weigh in as to whether this was luck or skill, but sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, but I can't argue with the result.
Tim in VT wrote: “Full time jobs dropped 63K and part time jobs rose by 96K. So we all get more jobs!”
The labor market finds your lack of faith disturbing….
They're cherry picking a subset of the data and falsely comparing it to the entirety of the data.
This would be like implying that there was something fishy about Boeing stock losing value when the entire stock market has risen in value.
Food prices in CA are crazy! My favorite supermarket is usually the cheapest for just about everything, but the produce prices are outrageous! Iceberg lettuce has been stuck at $2.49 a head for the last year or so, and Romaine at $3.99 for a three-pack. I'd be more understanding if I were on the East Coast, factoring in transportation costs. But so much of it is grown just a couple hours' drive from me in the Salinas Valley!
On those government job creation statistics...
https://twitter.com/RealEJAntoni/status/1753450909122621506?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1753450909122621506%7Ctwgr%5Ee81fb05634c7032d93b90261166744b2454704c8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fsamj%2F2024%2F02%2F02%2Fantoni-jobs-report-thread-n2392475
Let me know when gasoline prices in Pugetopolis get back to $2.45/gal (Costco). They're now $3.76/gal, with $0.45 of that being Jay Inslee's carbon tax. A tax that should depart for the land of government graft after the November elections and the repeal of his carbon tax.
Blogger Caroline said...
I’m calling bullshit on 25%. I’m in a grocery store 3x a week. I’m registering shock every time at the price jump of things I get all the time. The last time I bought Torani syrup for my coffee, it was $4.99. I’ve purchased the same product every 3 months for years. For years, it was $4.99. Now it’s 7.99. The price of things i buy regularly— milk, cheese, ground meat, ground lamb…are up wayyy more than 25%. Lemons were $1.00 apiece. Ok they were large. I wonder if anyone in Washington goes to the grocery?
2/2/24, 7:35 AM
Buy Torani syrup from Amazon. A four-pack of Hazelnut syrup is $22.49.
Joe Smith wrote: “Economic statistics from any government are automatically suspect. The initial jobs reports through 2023 were later adjusted downward.”
Revised figures in the report indicated that the US had added 333,000 jobs in December, up from a first estimate of 216,000. The figure for November and December payrolls were revised up by 126,000 combined. A strong employment report.
Redistributive change: the rich get richer, the poor are subsidized, and the rest of diversity consume capital (i.e. savings) and engorge themselves with credit/debt.
Meade, stop being a dope. Do you really think I am posting to this backwater blog from some small-town in the middle of the Amazon?
Ask me any question about Madison that only a local will know.
Also, Meade, focus on the point I made not what you might think my identity might be. Ideas are more important than identity.
Are we going to act like all of Trump's FREE COVID MONEY from the gubment has NO effect whatsoever on rising inflation? Is that our fantasy today? Biden just continued Trump's free money policies. Trump turned the GOP into the party of welfare queens. Take some accountability. What happens when there is more money chasing the same number of goods and services? What happens when you have to pay workers more to return to work because it's a better deal to stay home and collect Trump checks? No one else thinks Trump policies play some role in this mess AT ALL?
Do we think inflation is real time or that it might lag some of these policies? Trump himself acknowledges the lag, hence his wish that the economy pops while Biden is in office rather than Trump being stuck with the results of Biden's recklessness. Trump makes a fair point, but it works both ways. If not, why not? Let's hear why "it's different when they do it."
Maybe the GOP should re-think and resurrect some of it's deeply unfashionable ideas like not give away a bunch of money that the country doesn't have. Boooo... But...voters LOVE freebies! Only dorks like Paul Ryan care about fiscal responsibility. Ask Trump. Don't be a dork. Spend! Spend! Spend!
Mish Shedlock breaks out the numbers. Here's one highlight link, but you should read his whole blog post to uncover the devilish details:
https://mishtalk.com/economics/jobs-soar-but-full-time-employment-is-barely-changed-since-may-2022/#:~:text=7.2%25%20%E2%80%93%20Household%20Survey-,Nonfarm,-Payroll%20Change%20by
Birches,
I make my own peanut butter. I get unsalted, dry roasted from ALDI. Put the peanuts in my food processor and let it whirl until smooth. Healthiest peanut butter at almost half the price.
Hiring Accelerated With 353,000 Jobs Added in January
Really, you believe this? After you read Larry J's response, let's ask LA Times staff about job growth? How about The Messenger? Maybe Sports Illustrated? Maybe they should learn to code. How about we ask Inc.com:
More Tech Layoffs Hit Okta, Zoom, and Facebook May Never go Back to Large-Scale HiringThe tech workplace has changed. Predictions that the layoff season would keep going have come true.
elsewhere
planetgeo wrote: "Democrats were born without the Math gene."
Rich: Could you support your statement with data?
Everyone else simply reads Rich's comments and then looks around and realizes he's full of shit.
Example: You may be thinking of Government spending as a share of GDP — which I note did reach 50% of GDP under Trump in 2020. No dumb shit. 2020 was covid and the entire world's GDP fell, which makes using Spending per GDP a bad metric to use, yet here is Rich using it. Alternatively, there is https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/americas-finance-guide/federal-spending/ On the page, it says: "ompared to the federal spending of $1.45 trillion for the same period last year (Oct 2022 - Dec 2022) our federal spending has increased by $171 billion." That's 12% increase YoY. Via that same link, you can see US Deficit Spending, which increased 21% YoY.
Here’s an idea for you to think about, Once written…
“False in one thing, false in everything"
Also: Argentina is in the middle of the Amazon? Where in Madison, Wisconsin did you study world geography?
Ideas are more important than identity.
https://www.nortonlifelock.com/blogs/norton-labs/identifying-sockpuppet-accounts-social-media
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2127107-sock-puppet-accounts-unmasked-by-the-way-they-write-and-post/
Seems like the context that Powell was appointed by Trump and retained by Biden is probably important here.
“False in one thing, false in everything"
So, Meade, you are a pelican?
Tell you what — you answer my good-faith questions in good faith and I’ll answer yours. Fair enough?
The January Job Squeeze
the unadjusted household survey showed -1.1 million, on the back of a -1.395 million last month -- which was wildly out-of-character. January is usually a firing month of course due to the end of the Christmas season but any speculation that this was pulled forward a couple of weeks (thus was in the December report) got blown up by this number.
In addition while hourly wages were up some the work-week was down two tenths and thus the actual weekly check was smaller for most workers. That, I'm sure, will be "greatly appreciated" in an inflationary economy.
Rich said...
Seems like the context that Powell was appointed by Trump and retained by Biden is probably important here.
More like irrelevant since Powell is somebody who could be confirmed by the GOP Senate after the mid-terms in 2018 and Biden could get through with a narrow Democrat Senate majority in 2022
"I am pretty sure American voters will choose Biden."
I was born at night, but I wqasn't born last night.
My ALDI grocery basket has , over all, seen a 40% rise in prices.
Hey!
Didn't Argentina just elect a president who didn't have his head up his ass?
Are we going to act like all of Trump's FREE COVID MONEY from the gubment has NO effect whatsoever on rising inflation?
1/3 of the inflation belongs on Trump's shoulders and 2/3 on Biden's when you take this approach (2trillon Trump, 4trillon Biden). Very simplistic take, but the argument can be made in a semi-honest manner. At the very least Trump is responsible for some of the inflation due to how he handled the early stages of the pandemic imo. Had he just followed his initial instinct of "business as usual and well get through this" instead of following the expert advice he was getting we would have been a lot better off. I think he was afraid of having millions of deaths hung around his neck going forward.
Biden just continued Trump's free money policies.
Now you're just bullshitting. Why do you feel the need to do that?
State Farm Auto insurance up 20% in California, just for fun.
Chevron and Exxon record results. Big Tech record results. Record job growth. Control over inflation. Government spending as share of GDP down from Trump years. Much needed infrastructure bill passed to invest in long term growth. Repatriated American manufacturing. Got support from the nation largest unions. Yeah, we really need Trump back to give some advice on hydroxychloroquine.
Potato chips and pretzels are pushing $8 dollars a bag. The rise in snack prices is my pet complaint. I love snacks. Biden not so much.
At the drive-thru at a fast food place the other day, for an order of fries and a coke. Cost- $6.10. Seems rather expensive.
Rich has offered us an example of record bullshit. The hiring is government employees. There is no control over inflation. "Reduced Inflation, according to this crew, means prices are going to stay high but the rise may be a bit slower after this.
Chevron and Exxon record results.
Did you read the details:
"Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) reported earnings of $2.3 billion ($1.22 per share - diluted) for fourth quarter 2023, compared with $6.4 billion ($3.33 per share - diluted) in fourth quarter 2022. "
Chevron earned $4 billion less for the quarter YoY.
Exxon earned $5 billion less in 4Q2023 than 4Q2022.
That's what is called evidence of a slowing economy.
"A twelve-pack of Diet Coke cost $5.99 (including deposit on the cans) at the neighborhood CBS when Trump was in office..."
Seven years ago, Fry's (Kroger) had them on sale every couple of months, (4) twelve-packs for $8.88. The latest sale- (4) for $18.
"So, Meade, you are a pelican?"
Once Written is pathetic. He can't even concoct an insipid put-down without revealing his inadequacy. Sandhill crane, dumbshit, not pelican!
"Where in Madison, Wisconsin did [Once Written] study world geography?"
The Pauly Shore Academy?
1/3 of the inflation belongs on Trump's shoulders and 2/3 on Biden's when you take this approach
That's about right. Slow growth, fast debt during the Obama administration. Tax refunds during the Trump administration, which motivated economic growth, but for the Sino-Fauci virus, mainstream phobic celebration, distancing, masks, and economic retardation driven by urban centers. Then Biden adopts Obama's policies and doubles down.
How does ANYONE "get a break from inflation" when the prices don't come down to where they were under Trump, but fall (at most) only a few cents here and there?
WaPo is blowing smoke up our skirts once again.
Shameless shits, the lot of them.
@Howard I know you're trolling for attention but I was not talking about food that I'll buy no matter the price (fruits and vegetables), but the things my kids would like as bigger snacks. I don't think American kids are fat because of graham crackers and animal crackers and peanut butter in the house. Those things have been around for a long time, roughly the same amount of sugar as a glass of milk.
Rich writes, "Chevron and Exxon record results."
All corporations record results. This is called bookkeeping, which is vital to avoid criminal prosecutions over things like dividends... Wait, I get it... Rich is eschewing verbs again.
Incomplete thinking is soooo progressive because it allows polemics without inconvenient predicates like "revenue shortfalls" and "low profitability".
On the day of the release of a blockbuster January jobs report, leave it to Althouse to focus on the Covid inflation surge, which happened worldwide and wasn’t even Biden’s fault. I suspect the Know Nothings will be bitching about this even after it stops.
In what alternate America are health insurance prices decreasing?
The Atlanta Fed's GDPNow tool is now estimating 4.2% growth for 2024 Q1.
https://www.atlantafed.org/cqer/feature/2024/02/01-gdpnow
Our transitory President.
Once written, twice... said...
If you like the Biden economy, you're gonna love Trump.
So many fat-headed folks seem unaware that the GDP and job numbers that tout growth and a healthy economy are - more often than not - later adjusted downward by the government agencies.
The Progressive voting block supports - both literally and figuratively - the Obesity Industrial Complex.
The Progressive voting block supports - both literally and figuratively - the Obesity Industrial Complex.
I saw Coke products on sale at Kroger's yesterday for $3.99/12 pack. Perhaps things have peaked.
More telling is prices at fast food restaurants, which, I gather, most of you do not frequent. I indulge in a double cheeseburger on rare occasion. That burger, from a Kingly place, cost $1.69 about three years ago. Currently, it is pegged at $3.59. That is over 100% inflated.
Americans are finally getting a break from inflation, with prices for gasoline, used cars and health insurance all falling over the past year, relieving families and buoying President Biden’s 2024 reelection bid
This is a lie.
in particular, they changed the way of scoring "health inflation". it no longer is based on teh price of health insurance, but on claims paid out by health insurance companies.
So, I suppose I could be really glad for the insurance companies that they've been screwing over tier customers and making fewer payments, but I'm not.
And I can for damn sure guarantee you that my health insurance premiums are NOT going down.
https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/inside-most-ridiculous-jobs-report-recent-history
So, I'm sure we are all shocked, shocked to learn that the Biden* Admin has been dishonestly gaming the employment numbers, and ALL the positives they "reported" are lies
Which would be great, if only it wasn't almost entirely due to the BLS's latest choice of seasonal adjustments, which have gone from merely laughable to full clownshow, as the following comparison between the revised BLS Payrolls number and the ADP payrolls show: the trend is clear: the Biden admin numbers are now clearly rising even as the impartial ADP (which directly logs employment numbers at the company level and is actually far more accurate), shows an accelerating slowdown.
And speaking of seasonal adjustments, the January print was all seasonals, because while the seasonally adjusted payrolls was up 353K, the unadjusted was down 2.635 million, a 3 million jobs delta.
...
But it's more than just the Biden admin hanging its "success" on seasonal adjustments: when one digs deeper inside the jobs report, all sorts of ugly things emerge... such as the latest divergence between the Establishment (payrolls) and much more accurate Household (actual employment) survey. To wit, while in January the BLS claims 353K payrolls were added, the Household survey found that the number of actually employed workers dropped again, this time by 31K (from 161.183K to 161.152K).
This means that while the Payrolls series hits new all time highs every month since December 2020 (when according to the BLS the US had its last month of payrolls losses), the level of Employment has barely budged in the past year. Worse, as shown in the chart below, such a gaping divergence has opened between the two series in the past 4 years, that the number of Employed workers would need to soar by 9 million (!) to catch up to what Payrolls claims is the employment situation.
Why dont' people give Biden "credit" for teh great economic changes? Because there aren't any
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