Trouble Ahead, Inflation Jumps More than Expected – Gasoline Prices Increase 9.1% in One Month, Year Over Year Inflation 2.6%


Posted originally on the conservative tree house April 13, 2021 | Sundance | 333 Comments

The Bureau of Labor Statistics highlights some alarming inflation numbers today [Link Here] that are unfortunately, not unexpected…. unless you are a liberally trained economist (most of them) and so the results are surprisingly “unexpected”.    But the actual JoeBama-nomic policy is even worse because wages increased less than inflation increased, so real wages (actual purchasing power) decreased.  That spells trouble, Trouble.

Middle-class wage earners already know this problem; you are seeing it at the gas pumps and at the grocery store.  Fuel prices are rapidly increasing and the amount of inflation in the ‘at home’ food industry (grocery store) is even more concerning.

Let me first walk through the data and then provide some forward analysis with tips to help you offset what is about to hit.

First, it is important to know that BLS price survey data lags actual prices as felt today.  The prices you are seeing today/tommorrow at the store and gas pump will not show up in the rolled-up data for over a month….  So the data released today is unfortunately far behind what you are witnessing in real time.

Gas prices rose last month by 9.1%.  The year-over-year inflation number is an alarming 2.6 percent last month.  Keep in mind that retail grocery prices are not in the inflation number, and they generally follow the same price index as fuel; so it is safe to say monthly grocery store price increases are in the 8 to 10 percent range.

Part of the reason gas and food track together is fuel and energy prices are the #2 cost within the food sector.  With packaging prices increasing; with fuel prices and distribution costs increasing; with energy prices increasing; all costs associated with food production, processing, delivery, warehousing and distribution, all end up in the final price at the grocery store.

This problem with inflation is only going to get worse as the FED gets more involved (that’s coming), because interest rates are already disconnected from the economic costs associated with business investment. [Note: the Fed said last year that it would hold its benchmark interest rate near zero, for some time, even if inflation were to rise above its preferred rate.]  JoeBama is returning us to a “service driven economy”, and that is a problem for inflation.

President Trump’s MAGAnomic (USA First) increased wages and lowered prices (deflation) {Go Deep} but hurt Wall Street.  JoeBama’s globalist policies lower U.S. wages and increase prices (inflation) but increase Wall Street (via multinationals).

Gas prices are going to keep rising because JoeBama is shutting down U.S. energy sources, blocking pipelines and using regulation to stall energy development (including refineries).  We will be back to energy dependence soon.  This process will continue driving up food prices which is really bad for the middle-class.

In the longer term, the impact of wages purchasing less means middle-class housing prices will drop as people struggle to afford mortgages.  However, the Wall Street gains will keep the upper tier real estate market less impacted.  You can see how the wealth gap is directly attributed to policy.

Trump decreased the wealth gap with policies that disproportionately (in a good way) helped the middle-class and blue-collar worker by increasing wages.  JoeBama expands the wealth gap with policies that disproportionately (in a bad way) hurt the middle-class and blue-collar worker by decreasing real wages and increasing prices.  Under JoeBama-nomics the rich get richer and the poor get more poor.

If you know that fuel and food prices are going to increase, you can take action now to plan out your home budget in an effort to offset or cope with the inflation.  Example: buy bulk items that can last longer as ingredients.  You can also save money by making your own laundry detergent, shop sales, cut coupons and be proactive in preparation for a period of large price increases at the supermarket.  Use your freezer and eat out less.

Employment is going to be an issue again.  While the current employment picture is good, it will not last into 2022.  Make a safety net now (somehow) and start thinking about your longer term expenses and how you can take action now in preparation.

I am not a doomsayer… but I can see when supply chains start to fill up because overall demand begins to stall.  We are exactly at that point.

BIDENomics – Weekly Jobless Claims “Unexpectedly” Higher With 744,000 New Claims


Posted originally on the conservative tree house April 8, 2021 | Sundance | 151 Comments

All of JoeBama’s economic policies mirror the Obama-Biden economic issues. Underline it; emphasize it; note the pattern.  The policies that intentionally held down the U.S. economy during the Obama administration are once again being duplicated.  It’s Déjà vu all over again.

JoeBama’s energy policy is crushing jobs in key regions where energy jobs are being lost in dramatic fashion.  Simultaneously the costs of energy, including gas, are skyrocketing.

The longer-term costs have not yet hit the consumer, but they will soon as inflation will jump dramatically while employment will continue to struggle because consumer demand will drop… The issues create a cascading cycle.

The Biden administration is hiding their actual policy impact by blaming COVID, but that’s not the issue that will hurt blue-collar workers in the longest term.  We are going back into the intentional disconnect I have talked about where the stock market (multinationals) will gain, but the U.S. worker economy will suffer lost jobs and lower wages. This dichotomy is by design and the corporate media economists never discuss it.

This reality is a big part of the reason why Pelosi and JoeBama needed to quickly pump money into the working class in order to avoid the pitchforks.  However, that $2,000 injection will not last and will be eaten up quickly by the larger and longer term Biden economic policy.

The U.S. economy, which is 70% dependent on consumer spending, is going to contract.  This contraction will be “unexpected” by the professional pundit class who check their stock holdings and smile.  However, this contraction will not be unexpected by the blue-collar workers who watch their paychecks shrink and their costs to live (electricity, fuel, food prices) increase beyond their earnings.

If you are a blue-collar or white-collar worker in a BLUE region or state, you will feel the impact first.  It is going to get very ugly, as noted by the disparity in the unemployment claims this week.  Weekly unemployment claims [Dept of Labor pdf here] tell the story.

(CNBC) – […] First-time claims for unemployment insurance rose more than expected last week despite other signs of healing in the jobs market, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

First-time claims for the week ended April 3 totaled 744,000, well above the expectation for 694,000 from economists surveyed by Dow Jones. The total represented an increase of 16,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised 728,000. The four-week moving average edged higher to 723,750. (link)

The negative results are continuing on a ‘Red State’ -vs- ‘Blue State’ dynamic as noted in the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reporting: “In February, the highest unemployment rates among the divisions were in Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA, 10.9 percent, and New York-Jersey City-White Plains, NY-NJ, 10.8 percent.”

For the weekly jobless claims, here’s the breakdown by state:

(Source pdf)

Do not dismiss these results as just bad policy.  There is also a strong ideological component as the Chicago Crew is driving the granular issues on a day-to-day basis.  The Obama team intentionally work to diminish the economy of the United States because their “fundamental change” requires it.   Joe Biden is an idiot and has no clue about what is structurally behind all the moves…. That’s why Obama installed Kamala Harris.

The professional republican class are corporatists; do not expect them to oppose any of these policies that undermine the U.S. economy and expand globalism.  The GOP is paid by the corporations to act stupid and go along.

The road to serfdom is paved with fraudulent intentions….