Inflation change the lowest in over two years

[Concart]

CPI rose 4.0 percent year over year. That's the lowest figure in over two years. Unemployment is at a 50 year low, and growth is slow but steady.

What happened to the great depression? What happened to the stock market crash? Why am I buckled up when the car isn't moving?

"The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.1 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.4 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 4.0 percent before seasonal adjustment."

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

Discuss.

 

[Cypress]

CPI rose 4.0 percent year over year. That's the lowest figure in over two years. Unemployment is at a 50 year low, and growth is slow but steady.

More than two and a half years ago Trump practically guaranteed that if Americans dared to elect Biden there would be an unprecedented economic depression of apocalyptic proportions.

His MAGA cultists giggled and nodded their heads in agreement.

 

[Concart]

More than two and a half years ago Trump practically guaranteed that if Americans dared to elect Biden there would be an unprecedented economic depression of apocalyptic proportions.

His MAGA cultists giggled and nodded their heads in agreement.

Trump ALWAYS claims that something is going to happen soon, or in the futue, or.... blah, blah, blah. It never does. And neither do their utterly ignorant economic predictions.

 

[cawacko]

Inflation is still well above the Fed target rate so the question is what will they do next? They fear inflation being ingrained in the economy (I believe that is the correct term) so they do not want to let it continue to linger at these elevated rates (even if they are falling) but of course don’t want to push the country into recession.

 

[evince]

Democratic economic ideas work


Republican economic ideas fuck everything up


It’s a solid pattern repeated over and over and over in practice



The republicans are not the fiscal party

They never have been


It’s a fucking lie they just keep repeating

 

[Concart]

Inflation is still well above the Fed target rate so the question is what will they do next? They fear inflation being ingrained in the economy (I believe that is the correct term) so they do not want to let it continue to linger at these elevated rates (even if they are falling) but of course don’t want to push the country into recession.

If the idea was to bring down inflation, then it's hard to argue that the rate cuts weren't effective. That said, there are so many variables that impact both supply and demand, it's impossible to know how much each of those variables has impacted prices. For example, we know that the Covid variables (pent up consumer demand, supply side issues, infusion of dollars into the money supply, etc.) were and are still at work. Egg prices shot up due to avian flu, and they are now dropping at a record pace. The Ukraine war was a huge variable.

Point is there is no way to know how much one factor that impacts demand had on prices. But the good news is that it appears we have adjusted the levers such that we have NOT gone into recession, job creation remains strong, and growth is slow but steady. That says we have, through legislation and policies, mitigated the impact of the Fed raising rates. IMHO it's impressive.

 

[evince]

It is a plan that has worked before to manage the economy


Not allowing it to overheat and then plummet causing great pain for average citizens


The wealthy love a boom and bust economy


It helps them consolidate more wealth

Give them soaring profits and a nice buying opportunity during the crash side

 

[cawacko]

If the idea was to bring down inflation, then it's hard to argue that the rate cuts weren't effective. That said, there are so many variables that impact both supply and demand, it's impossible to know how much each of those variables has impacted prices. For example, we know that the Covid variables (pent up consumer demand, supply side issues, infusion of dollars into the money supply, etc.) were and are still at work. Egg prices shot up due to avian flu, and they are now dropping at a record pace. The Ukraine war was a huge variable.

Point is there is no way to know how much one factor that impacts demand had on prices. But the good news is that it appears we have adjusted the levers such that we have NOT gone into recession, job creation remains strong, and growth is slow but steady. That says we have, through legislation and policies, mitigated the impact of the Fed raising rates. IMHO it's impressive.

Quick question, when you said rate cuts in your first sentence did you mean rate increases?

 

[Concart]

Quick question, when you said rate cuts in your first sentence did you mean rate increases?

LOL, yes I did.

 

[Lionfish]

CPI rose 4.0 percent year over year. That's the lowest figure in over two years. Unemployment is at a 50 year low, and growth is slow but steady.

What happened to the great depression? What happened to the stock market crash? Why am I buckled up when the car isn't moving?

"The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.1 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.4 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 4.0 percent before seasonal adjustment."

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

Discuss.

Wow, tell that to my utility bills that are at least double of what they were three years ago before brandon canceled all of Trump's energy initiatives. Now that the government slowed the printing of China Virus money, cities are trying to compensate for their bloated budgets by adding a percent of two to sales taxes and also raising gasoline taxes. I see no positive upside in the near future.

The good news, due to the deteriorating state of the military and the democrats defund the police policies, the price of 9mm ammo has dropped almost 50%. My customers are buying it cheap and stacking it deep. 38sp, 45ACP. 5.56 are all still 50% over what they should be but handloaders are having a field day.

 

[cawacko]

If the idea was to bring down inflation, then it's hard to argue that the rate cuts weren't effective. That said, there are so many variables that impact both supply and demand, it's impossible to know how much each of those variables has impacted prices. For example, we know that the Covid variables (pent up consumer demand, supply side issues, infusion of dollars into the money supply, etc.) were and are still at work. Egg prices shot up due to avian flu, and they are now dropping at a record pace. The Ukraine war was a huge variable.

Point is there is no way to know how much one factor that impacts demand had on prices. But the good news is that it appears we have adjusted the levers such that we have NOT gone into recession, job creation remains strong, and growth is slow but steady. That says we have, through legislation and policies, mitigated the impact of the Fed raising rates. IMHO it's impressive.

I am definitely not in the eliminate the Fed camp but I’m also not in the blindly “trust the experts” camp and think because a bunch of Fed workers have PhD’s in economics they are somehow infallible or above reproach. They fvxked up calling inflation transitory and waiting too long to raise rates and have been rushing to make up for it ever sense.

I didn’t agree with our fiscal policy approach. We’ve heard the phrase “they’re fighting the last war” and I think that’s what happened here. Some think our fiscal stimulus wasn’t big enough following the GFC and that was the reason for the sluggish growth. They were determined not to make that mistake again this time expect that wasn’t the necessary policy prescription. We flooded the market with stimulus money causing huge inflation (along with supply chain issues and Russia-Ukraine).

It’s not a sustainable model and will rates drop back to close to zero again to try and sustain us? Generally speaking I’m almost always an optimist on the U.S. and our economy but things feel broken right now. (That’s not to suggest things won’t rebound because they will at some point but depending on who you listen to or believe that time frame can be quite variable)

 

[Concart]

I am definitely not in the eliminate the Fed camp but I’m also not in the blindly “trust the experts” camp and think because a bunch of Fed workers have PhD’s in economics they are somehow infallible or above reproach. They fvxked up calling inflation transitory and waiting too long to raise rates and have been rushing to make up for it ever sense.

I didn’t agree with our fiscal policy approach. We’ve heard the phrase “they’re fighting the last war” and I think that’s what happened here. Some think our fiscal stimulus wasn’t big enough following the GFC and that was the reason for the sluggish growth. They were determined not to make that mistake again this time expect that wasn’t the necessary policy prescription. We flooded the market with stimulus money causing huge inflation (along with supply chain issues and Russia-Ukraine).

It’s not a sustainable model and will rates drop back to close to zero again to try and sustain us? Generally speaking I’m almost always an optimist on the U.S. and our economy but things feel broken right now. (That’s not to suggest things won’t rebound because they will at some point but depending on who you listen to or believe that time frame can be quite variable)

I don't think the economy is 'broken' beyond our ability to correct it with conventional economic measures. Over time, a new normal always kicks in. My first mortgage was 8.5%, and when I refinanced to 6% I was dancing a jig. Now we're horrified that mortgage rates are over 5.0% I made my first chunk of investment seed money because I bought 10 year treasuries when interest rates were double digit. Our ability to navigate the QE unwinding, Covid, stimulus money, and international factors that caused a ton of short term pain shows a resiliency that's at least a bit assuring. To me, the elephant in the room is the ever widening wage/wealth gap. THAT is not sustainable and it's so far out of hand that adjustments won't work to fix it. Of the concerns I have, that is number 1 with a bullet.

 

[cawacko]

I don't think the economy is 'broken' beyond our ability to correct it with conventional economic measures. Over time, a new normal always kicks in. My first mortgage was 8.5%, and when I refinanced to 6% I was dancing a jig. Now we're horrified that mortgage rates are over 5.0% I made my first chunk of investment seed money because I bought 10 year treasuries when interest rates were double digit. Our ability to navigate the QE unwinding, Covid, stimulus money, and international factors that caused a ton of short term pain shows a resiliency that's at least a bit assuring. To me, the elephant in the room is the ever widening wage/wealth gap. THAT is not sustainable and it's so far out of hand that adjustments won't work to fix it. Of the concerns I have, that is number 1 with a bullet.

I don't disagree with you about the issues of the wage/wealth gap. I'm thinking we have different thoughts behind the cause and what we should do but I'm open to hearing you positions.

To me there are multiple reasons for it including globalization and technology. Technological advances (automation) changed the workforce and obviously created massive new opportunities where tremendous amounts of wealth has been created. Arguably the biggest driver has been the Fed. Once they started catering their actions towards and investors and the stock market it was a game changer. I know the argument on behalf of the Fed's easy money policies is it helps low income workers and there is of course truth to that. But the trade off has been massive asset inflation which largely benefits the well to do and drives our inequality.

I won't go off on a tangent about housing but it also plays a huge role. Young people today have nowhere near the same opportunity to purchase 'affordable' housing like Boomers did. NIMBYism is a national scourge which benefits those who own but hurts those who don't and makes our economy less dynamic.

 

[Concart]

I don't disagree with you about the issues of the wage/wealth gap. I'm thinking we have different thoughts behind the cause and what we should do but I'm open to hearing you positions.

To me there are multiple reasons for it including globalization and technology. Technological advances (automation) changed the workforce and obviously created massive new opportunities where tremendous amounts of wealth has been created. Arguably the biggest driver has been the Fed. Once they started catering their actions towards and investors and the stock market it was a game changer. I know the argument on behalf of the Fed's easy money policies is it helps low income workers and there is of course truth to that. But the trade off has been massive asset inflation which largely benefits the well to do and drives our inequality.

I won't go off on a tangent about housing but it also plays a huge role. Young people today have nowhere near the same opportunity to purchase 'affordable' housing like Boomers did. NIMBYism is a national scourge which benefits those who own but hurts those who don't and makes our economy less dynamic.

My take:

The wage/wealth gap can be easily traced back to the policies of Reagan in the early '80s and supply side economics. It was exactly as HW labeled it; voodoo economics. As a result, more and more wealth moved upwards. To fill in the gap, the business lobby just gave everyone free credit so they could spend like drunken sailors while they were being fleeced. And when that bill came due, the business guys said 'hey, just refinance your house to pay off all those bills'. And then 2008. I see no other fix for this than a one time wealth tax. It's favored by most Americans, and it would provide an enormous jolt to the economy if it was used properly.

Trickle down is an utter and complete failure, but Republicans still trot it out. I like to use this example, because it's simple to understand. The infinity waterfalls you see work by pumping water to the top and then having it fall back. THAT was the theory behind trickle down. But now the base of the fountain is almost dry, and the top is overflowing. The only way to correct that is to move some of that water on the top back down. We aren't doing that. It's not sustainable. When there is no discretionary income left, the system is going to fail.

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/01/09/trends-in-income-and-wealth-inequality/

The remarkable shift of wealth and wages toward the very top of the wealth scale should concern everyone. But it doesn't.

 

[Into the Night]

CPI rose 4.0 percent year over year. That's the lowest figure in over two years. Unemployment is at a 50 year low, and growth is slow but steady.
What happened to the great depression? What happened to the stock market crash? Why am I buckled up when the car isn't moving?

"The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.1 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.4 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 4.0 percent before seasonal adjustment."

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

Discuss.

Inflation has slowed for the moment, but we are still in economic depression.

 

[Into the Night]

More than two and a half years ago Trump practically guaranteed that if Americans dared to elect Biden there would be an unprecedented economic depression of apocalyptic proportions.

Biden wasn't elected, and we ARE in economic depression, which was started by the Democrats in 2019.

His MAGA cultists giggled and nodded their heads in agreement.

MAGA isn't people or a group or a cult.

 

[Into the Night]

Trump ALWAYS claims that something is going to happen soon, or in the futue, or.... blah, blah, blah. It never does. And neither do their utterly ignorant economic predictions.

It did happen. Democrats started the current economic depression. Trump was right, yet again.

 

[Into the Night]

Inflation is still well above the Fed target rate so the question is what will they do next? They fear inflation being ingrained in the economy (I believe that is the correct term) so they do not want to let it continue to linger at these elevated rates (even if they are falling) but of course don’t want to push the country into recession.

The Fed is losing control. The nation is still in economic depression, which was started by the Democrats in 2019.

 

[Into the Night]

Democratic economic ideas work

Never have.
* price controls do not work.
* managing an economy does not work.
* socialism does not work.

Republican economic ideas fuck everything up

Inversion fallacy. The current economic ideas of Democrats is the problem.

It’s a solid pattern repeated over and over and over in practice

You are describing Democrats.

The republicans are not the fiscal party

Inversion fallacy. You are describing Democrats.
They never have been

Correct...for Democrats.

It’s a fucking lie they just keep repeating

Inversion fallacies. You are describing yourself again.

 

[Geeko Sportivo]

CPI rose 4.0 percent year over year. That's the lowest figure in over two years. Unemployment is at a 50 year low, and growth is slow but steady.

What happened to the great depression? What happened to the stock market crash? Why am I buckled up when the car isn't moving?

"The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.1 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.4 percent in April, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 4.0 percent before seasonal adjustment."

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm

Discuss.

The only thing that is causing prices to come down, is the supply meeting the demand thing.

As long as stupid or rich people continue to buy all the overpriced things such as meat and meat products, as just one example, those prices will never come back down to Earth. I don't even buy meat anymore unless it is on sale. I just wait for it to go on sale. And someone always has a sale somewhere.
But you have to take advantage of them, be willing to shop around and compare like your Mother did, and HOLD FIRM on your buying decisions.

See what you can do without for a couple of months and watch the prices come back down.