Tag Archives: Inflation

The Latest Inflation Numbers

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On Thursday, The Epoch Times posted an article about the latest inflation numbers.

The article reports:

Falling energy prices helped U.S. inflation cool in March, slowing to its lowest level in six months.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual inflation rate declined to 2.4 percent from 2.8 percent in February, the lowest reading since September.

Economists had penciled in a reading of 2.6 percent.

On a monthly basis, the consumer price index (CPI) fell by a better-than-expected 0.1 percent.

Core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, also eased to 2.8 percent. This is the first time that annual core inflation has been below 3 percent since early 2021.

The core CPI increased by 0.1 percent month over month, below the consensus forecast of 0.3 percent.

The article concludes:

Minutes from the March Federal Open Market Committee policy meeting revealed that policymakers are worried about tariff-driven inflation risks.

“Participants assessed that uncertainty around the economic outlook had increased, with almost all participants viewing risks to inflation as tilted to the upside and risks to employment as tilted to the downside,” the meeting summary, released on April 9, reads.

However, based on President Donald Trump’s recent decision to impose a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, many doom-and-gloom projections “can be dialed down a bit,” according to Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Bankrate.

“The so-called 90-day pause doesn’t remove all uncertainty or potential negative impacts but is helpful,” Hamrick said in a statement to The Epoch Times.

“Fears about a huge pickup in inflation and near-term recession risks can be dialed down a bit.”

The next major inflation report will be the March producer price index, which measures the prices businesses pay for goods and services. Economists pay attention to this gauge as it can serve as a precursor to future inflation trends.

Energy prices are one of the things that fuel inflation. As American becomes energy independent again, the cost of crude oil will continue to drop, gasoline prices will continue to drop, and inflation will gradually come down. Even if OPEC cuts production in an attempt to keep oil prices high, it is quite possible that America will be able to make up for the cut. At that point, OPEC may not want to continue losing revenue because of their production cuts. We are in a very interesting time economically right now. Stay out of debt and pay your bills on time!

This Has Not Been Widely Reported

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On March 7th, NewsMax posted an article about the February Jobs Report. The media is ignoring the shift from foreign-born workers to American workers. That is good news.

The article reports:

President Trump praised the February jobs report for indicating that American-born workers gained 284,000 more jobs, while jobs held by foreign-born workers contracted by 87,000, Brietbart reports.

“Big gains for native-born Americans,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Friday. “For the first time in 15 months, the job gains for native-born Americans, people born in America, exceeded job gains for migrant and foreign-born workers.”

The article reminds us:

During the Biden administration, when inflation rose a cumulative 21.3%, Americans lost earning power in the labor in the labor and housing markets, as well as workplace productivity and training.

White-collar jobs and factory jobs were outsourced, while local communities became unstable due to progressive policies such as Defund the Police and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, says Steve Camarota, a researcher at the Center for Immigration Studies.

Further, as expanding blocs of migrants-turned-ethnic-voters demanded benefits, native-born Americans lost political power, Camaraota says.

There is room for more improvement for native-born Americans in the labor market, as current data shows that the share of Americans with jobs remains at historic lows.

For instance, Camarota notes, the labor force participation of U.S.-born men without a bachelor’s degree between the ages of 18 and 64 is 75.6%, down from 80.6% in 2006 and nearly 90% in the 1960s, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unfortunately, the Workforce Participation Rate has continued to drop slightly since September of last year, but hopefully that can be turned around quickly.

The Media Said Nothing!

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This was posted at Storm’n Norm’n’s blog. I have not idea who wrote it, but it is fantastic!

YOU SAID NOTHING

To whomever wrote this- Well said!! 

When millions of illegals were ushered in through the southern border, you said nothing! 

When they abandoned millions of dollars worth of military equipment in Afghanistan, you said nothing! 

When they flaunted a two tier justice system, one for them and one for everyone else, you said nothing!

When they covered up the Hunter Biden laptop, you said nothing!

When they passed a trillion dollar infrastructure bill that failed miserably, you said nothing! 

When they forced Americans to take an untested vaccine, you said nothing! 

When inflation crushed the middle class, you said nothing!

When they sent billions to Ukraine, you said nothing! 

When chemicals polluted the water in East Palestine, Ohio and they ignored it, you said nothing! 

When Americans were raped, robbed and murdered by illegals, you said nothing!

When they implanted Kamala as the presidential nominee without getting a single vote, you said nothing! 

When billionaire and anti American George Soros funded dozens of AG elections, you said nothing! 

When they turned our classrooms into liberal indoctrination camps, you said nothing! 

When they spent our tax dollars on inmates transition surgeries, you said nothing! 

When they gave the citizens of Hawaii $700 after losing their entire city, you said nothing! 

When they gave free money, food and 5 star hotel lodging to illegals, you said nothing! 

When they came for our free speech, you said nothing! 

When DEI weakened the military and put our national security at risk, you said nothing! 

When they colluded with the media to push false reports, you said nothing!

When it was open season on law enforcement and criminals reigned, you said nothing! 

When they weaponized the justice system to take down their political opponents, you said nothing!

When the bureaucrats took over the White House and ran the government, you said nothing! 

When they covered up Biden’s rapidly declining mental state, you said nothing! 

When they groomed our kids in school and hid it from the parents, you said nothing! 

When the drug epidemic exploded and 1000s died annually, you said nothing! 

When they accosted the jews on their campuses, you said nothing!

When they weaponized the intelligence agencies against Americans, you said nothing! 

When they spent $45 million dollars on “Diversity and Inclusion” scholarships in Burma, you said nothing!

When they let men play women’s sports, you said nothing! 

When they chanted “Death to America” and burned our flag, you said nothing! 

When they shutdown our energy production, and emboldened Russia, you said nothing! 

When the crime rates in American cities increased, you said nothing!

While thousands of veterans were left to sleep out on the streets, you said nothing!

When 300,000 migrant children went missing and no one had a clue, you said nothing!

When Joe Biden pardoned his friends and family, you said nothing!

When they sent billions to Iran and inadvertently funded Hamas, you said nothing! 

When men were celebrated for pretending to be women, you said nothing! 

When they let a Chinese Spy Ballon sail across America, you said nothing! 

When 50 intelligence agents all lied to bury the Hunter Biden laptop as Russian disinformation, you said nothing! 

When American citizens were taken hostage and held for a year in Gaza, you said nothing! 

When Facebook admitted, they conspired with the Biden administration to censor the truth, you said nothing!

When they cleaned the streets of San Francisco for the communist Chinese President Xi Jinping, you said nothing!

When Fauci and the WHO peddled covid 19 virus lies and covered up the origins, you said nothing! 

When they sealed the January 6th commission files or “lost them”, you said nothing! 

You saw the corruption, the lies, the bad policy, the anti American agenda and said nothing, so please spare us your crocodile tears and all your fake hysteria now. For 4 years you watched this country get run into the ground on all fronts and you said nothing!

Now, it’s our turn!!!! 🇺🇸🙏🏼🏆

Posted by at 2/23/2025 10:06:00 PM

American Voters Are Smarter Than Some People Think They Are

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Politico just lost a lost of money it was getting from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Is it possible that now their reporting will be more balanced? The article below might be an indication of that!

On Tuesday, Politico posted an article about the gap between the numbers the government was posting about the economy and the public’s perception of the economy during the run-up to the 2024 election.

The article reports:

Before the presidential election, many Democrats were puzzled by the seeming disconnect between “economic reality” as reflected in various government statistics and the public’s perceptions of the economy on the ground. Many in Washington bristled at the public’s failure to register how strong the economy really was. They charged that right-wing echo chambers were conning voters into believing entirely preposterous narratives about America’s decline.

What they rarely considered was whether something else might be responsible for the disconnect — whether, for instance, government statistics were fundamentally flawed. What if the numbers supporting the case for broad-based prosperity were themselves misrepresentations? What if, in fact, darker assessments of the economy were more authentically tethered to reality?

The discrepancy between what Americans were dealing with economically and what the government was telling them may not have been intentional, but it was hidden in the way the government statistics were calculated.

The article explains:

I don’t believe those who went into this past election taking pride in the unemployment numbers understood that the near-record low unemployment figures — the figure was a mere 4.2 percent in November — counted homeless people doing occasional work as “employed.” But the implications are powerful. If you filter the statistic to include as unemployed people who can’t find anything but part-time work or who make a poverty wage (roughly $25,000), the percentage is actually 23.7 percent. In other words, nearly one of every four workers is functionally unemployed in America today — hardly something to celebrate.

The article also notes the problem with the way the inflation numbers were calculated:

But the CPI also perceives reality through a very rosy looking glass. Those with modest incomes purchase only a fraction of the 80,000 goods the CPI tracks, spending a much greater share of their earnings on basics like groceries, health care and rent. And that, of course, affects the overall figure: If prices for eggs, insurance premiums and studio apartment leases rise at a faster clip than those of luxury goods and second homes, the CPI underestimates the impact of inflation on the bulk of Americans. That, of course, is exactly what has happened.

My colleagues and I have modeled an alternative indicator, one that excludes many of the items that only the well-off tend to purchase — and tend to have more stable prices over time — and focuses on the measurements of prices charged for basic necessities, the goods and services that lower- and middle-income families typically can’t avoid. Here again, the results reveal how the challenges facing those with more modest incomes are obscured by the numbers. Our alternative indicator reveals that, since 2001, the cost of living for Americans with modest incomes has risen 35 percent faster than the CPI. Put another way: The resources required simply to maintain the same working-class lifestyle over the last two decades have risen much more dramatically than we’ve been led to believe.

A good statistician can get statistics to say anything he wants them to say, but Americans are smart enough to look at how far their paychecks are going rather than believing all of the statistics.

A Review Of The Presidency Of Jimmy Carter

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I will admit up front that I am not a fan of President Carter. His work with Habitat for Humanity was commendable, but his policies as President and meddling in foreign affairs after he left office were not.

On Sunday, The American Thinker posted an article about President Carter’s legacy.

The article reports:

I grew up in a Democrat household, and we all wanted to like Carter. Nevertheless, by the end of his term, my parents disliked him intensely. They were right to do so because some of his decisions were dreadful at the time, and some had terrible consequences for America:

He pardoned draft evaders, which my father, a veteran of two wars, found unforgivable.

He gave away the Panama Canal. Now that China has a foothold in Latin America, its very presence threatens our trade and our national security.

He created the Department of Education, which my father, a teacher, instantly realized was going to be a boondoggle and a disaster that wouldn’t raise up teachers but would bring down education. Dad was right.

He presided over inflation, stagflation, and the energy crisis. The latter was partly a result of his policies, but even if it hadn’t been, these economic crises happened on his watch, and he was stuck with them.

He was a dour, unpleasant person whose very presence was a drag on America. Americans disliked his moralizing from the White House. His very personality defined malaise.

The article concludes:

On the plus side, Carter did broker the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt, which have held up for a long time. However, my Dad (a really smart guy) recognized Carter’s nascent antisemitism, something that came into full flower after he left the White House. Even Jonathan Greenblatt, the leftist leader of the ADL, couldn’t tolerate Carter’s animus toward Israel, something that could only be driven by Jew hatred.

Also, after he left the White House, Carter never met a corrupt election he wasn’t willing to certify. Why? I have no idea. But I dislike him a great deal for that.

Ultimately, Carter was a guy who lived a life of personal rectitude (he had the same wife for almost 80 years, went to church, etc.), but he left the United States and the world in much worse shape than they were when he found them.

What Happens When You Elect Good Government

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On Christmas Eve, The Epoch Times posted an article about Argentinian President Javier Milei’s first year in office. He definitely has moved Argentina in the right direction.

The article reports:

On his first anniversary as president of Argentina, Javier Milei announced the initial results of his relentless campaign to cut government spending, eliminate regulations, and pare back the country’s administrative state.

“Today, with pride and hope, I can tell you that we have passed the test of fire,” Milei told Argentinians last week. “We are leaving the desert, the recession is over, and the country has finally begun to grow.”

When Milei took office in November 2023, Argentina, once one of the world’s 10 richest countries, was in a dysfunctional state. Having defaulted on its sovereign debt three times since 2001, it was on track to do it again.

Its annual inflation rate was approaching 200 percent, its poverty rate was above 40 percent, its growth rate was negative 1.6 percent, its fiscal deficit was 15 percent of GDP, and it was running a chronic trade deficit.

Argentinians wanted change and voted the self-proclaimed libertarian into office with the largest majority a presidential candidate has received since free elections were reinstated in 1983, taking 55.7 percent of the vote over his opponent, incumbent economy minister Sergio Massa, who received 44.3 percent.

Over the past year, Milei eliminated 10 of Argentina’s 18 government ministries, capped the salaries of top bureaucrats, and fired 34,000 public employees, cutting government spending by 30 percent.

America is heading to the place Argentina was before President Milei took office. Hopefully, President Trump will get results similar to those of President Milei.

The article notes:

Upon taking office, Milei’s administration operated as if it were in a race against time, scrambling to deliver some sign of a brighter future before voters’ patience ran out.
During his first month in office, Milei issued a “mega-decree” that included 366 regulatory reforms, according to a report by Cato political analyst Ian Vasquez and Human Freedom Index co-author Guillermina Sutter Schneider.

By the end of his first year, that had climbed to 672 regulatory reforms enacted, along with the elimination of 331 regulations and modification of 341 others.

These included actions such as eliminating import licenses and lifting rent controls. These acts ultimately led to a 35 percent reduction in the price of home appliances and a 20 percent reduction in the cost of clothing, the authors write, as well as a sharp increase in available rental apartments in Buenos Aires that brought a significant drop in rent prices.

I hope the incoming Trump administration is taking notes.

What A Difference Leadership Makes

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This is not an article about America–this is an article about Argentina. On Saturday, The Independent Sentinel posted an article about Argentina’s President Milei.

The article includes the following Tweet:

Wow.

Please follow the link to the article. There are some rough times ahead for Argentina as the President puts things in order, but the future looks bright. The poverty rate in Argentina initially went up, but now is moving down quickly. The country’s economy will contract this year, but is expected to grow 5 percent next year. President Milei has done amazing things.

What Are You Willing To Believe?

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On Tuesday, The Media Research Center posted an article about a recent statement by Heather Long, a columnist for The Washington Post.

The article reports:

Washington Post columnist Heather Long decided to gaslight voters one more time before they head to the polls to decide who will run the White House for the next four years. “As Election Day arrives, the data is clear: Americans are better off economically than they were four years ago,” read Long’s ridiculous opening paragraph for her Nov. 4 item. She must have realized the insanity of her claim because she then resorted to telling voters they were better off whether they knew it or not: “I understand many people aren’t feeling it because of the inflation hangover that has left prices noticeably higher than they were in 2020. But it’s important to step back and assess the full picture.” It’s as if Long is trying her hardest to channel her inner Paul Krugman. 

The article includes the following screenshot:

The article concludes:

Ah, but how about that sexy stock market, says Long! “The stock market has gained about 75 percent since Oct. 30, 2020. (A record share of Americans — nearly 60 percent of households — have money in the market],” she wrote with glee. Not so fast. As Heritage Foundation Senior Research Associate Alexander Frei noted in an Oct. 31 column, “Inflation is also making stock markets appear stronger than they really are and cutting into returns for everyone, including those with retirement accounts.” In other words, as prices rise, “even significant returns lose their purchasing power.” Frie argued that now “[m]ore money is required to buy the same goods and services, eroding the real value of one’s gains. As everything becomes more expensive, higher earnings or investment returns don’t stretch as far, making it harder to keep up with the true cost of living.”

But Long was adamant that “looking at the full picture shows that most Americans are better off financially than they were four years ago.” But a Sept. 25 analysis by the Financial Health Network determined that “the majority of Americans are not financially healthy, with expenses outpacing income, little wiggle room to protect against financial shocks, and diminished hope for the future.”

Long is clearly trying to attempt a pathetic, last-minute effort to smear as much lipstick on the pig of the Biden-Harris economy as she can before Election Day closes out. She even undercut herself by conceding that most of her points matter “little to voters. And I get it. They are focused on high prices.” Uh, duh? 

The economy is bad. If people vote their pocketbooks, President Trump wins.

Finding Our Way Back

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On Friday, USA Today posted an article about inflation and the impact it has had on the lower and middle classes in America.

The article notes:

Putting “fun” back into low- and middle-income Americans’ budgets could be years away with most of their income barely covering the surge in costs for bare necessities, economists said.

Even with annual inflation last month cooling to the lowest level since February 2021 and wages rising faster than inflation, low- and middle-income Americans are just barely covering their essentials, which include groceries, shelter, utilities and gasoline, economists say.

That’s because when inflation slows, it only means prices aren’t rising as quickly, not that prices are declining. So, Americans continue to pay higher prices for everyday needs.

Low- and middle-income Americans were hit disproportionately harder than their higher-income peers because essentials account for a larger share of their budgets, and their discretionary spending, or spending on nonessential items like dining out, vacations and entertainment, is only just recovering, economists say.

…Middle-income Americans’ purchasing power, after being sharply eroded during the 2021-2022 inflation shock, just recently moved above 2019 levels, according to the monthly Primerica Household Budget Index (HBI). HBI assesses whether families can get ahead financially or if they may fall behind based on the affordability of everyday necessities needed to manage their homes and changes in their earned income.

…Air conditioning, watering the garden and visiting family were “luxuries” Amy Aaroen, 63, cut back on last summer.

The article asks the question:

Will upcoming holiday spending be affected?

Low and middle-income consumers will probably still be bargain-hunting this holiday season, analysts said.

“We are continuing to see inflation’s impact on the middle-class consumer,” said Adam Davis, managing director at Wells Fargo Retail Finance. “Discretionary spending on larger ticket items is down, which could indicate holiday budgets may tighten, and certain consumers might even trade down on items, with many actively looking for bargains.”

Aaroen says that through belt-tightening during the year, “we’ve somehow managed to keep a budget that will probably not affect our coming holidays too much. We have 11 grandchildren and usually spend $25 to $30 on each of them. And we will probably this year as well. We may need to use the credit card though.”

And “yes, we will definitely see family for the holidays,” she said. “But not as often in between.”

Elections have consequences. If you want four more years of inflation and increased government spending, vote for Kamala Harris.

How To Get The Job Done

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On Friday, Breitbart posted an article about the inflation rate in Argentina since President Javier Milei took office.

The article reports:

The National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina (INDEC) announced on Thursday that the country’s inflation rate for September was 3.5 percent.

September’s result marks the lowest inflation rate recorded in Argentina since November 2021 and is the result of President Javier Milei’s “shock therapy” economic measures that have steadily reduced inflation from 25.5 percent at the time he took office in December 2023 to September’s 3.5 percent.

Milei’s policies aim to overturn Argentina’s years-long economic crisis exacerbated under leftist governments, which dramatically worsened during the administration of Milei’s predecessor, socialist former President Alberto Fernández (2019-2023).

The article concludes:

Milei has insisted that his “zero deficit” fiscal goals for Argentina are “non-negotiable,” a pursuit he reiterated last week when he vetoed a university financing bill that the government branded as “irresponsible” and a danger to the nation’s fiscal balance. Milei reaffirmed that he would veto any bill that infringes upon fiscal balance. The veto was upheld by the Argentine Congress on Wednesday.

Milei’s policies, in addition to steadily reducing inflation over the past nine months from 25.5 percent in December 2023 to 3.5 percent in September, also allowed Argentina to experience its first Gross Domestic Product (GDP) surplus since 2008, overturning a 15 percent GDP deficit that the country faced at the time he took office in December.

America could learn a lot from what is happening in Argentina!

Conservative Replies to Debate Questions

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Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.

I watched the Vice President candidate’s debate the other night and thought that J.D. Vance did a good job. The following are my answers to some of the critical issues that were raised in the debate.

Climate Change. The climate constantly changes. Always has; always will. The idea that the recent destructive hurricane, Helene, was caused by man-made climate change is pure ignorance and typical of the environmental extremists. Severe hurricanes have occurred as far back as records have been kept–long before man’s burning of fossil fuels could have caused them. The Left continues to spout the idea that man-made climate change is “settled science” when it is not. This allows them to justify ruining our energy production.

Green Energy. The Democrat agenda is to spend more of our taxpayer money on solar and wind projects purchased from China, and importantly, to mandate electric vehicles. Meanwhile, China is building a new coal fired plant about every month and using coal that we ship to them. As Europe has found out, no modern civilization can exist on wind and solar. We need more access to fossil fuels and to start building nuclear plants which the environmental extremists are blocking.

Open Borders. The Democrats want open borders in order to get more voters who will support their socialist agenda. They give illegals free housing, food, cell phones and healthcare and will, if allowed, grant them citizenship so they can vote. They realize that they are losing support from working class Americans, blacks, and Hispanics because of their harmful policies and need to replace these voters. Biden/Harris have had the ability to close the borders just as Donald Trump was able to do. THEY WANT OPEN BORDERS!

Housing Costs. The cost of new homes is up over 30% since Biden/Harris took office. Their reckless government spending caused the highest inflation in 40 years. Soaring fuel prices have increase the production cost and shipping cost of all building materials. Inflation caused a surge in mortgage rates from 3% under Trump to over 7% under Biden/Harris. Their solution–to start another big government program of taking money from working Americans and give it to first time home buyers.

Abortion. There is nothing in the Constitution that addresses abortion as a right. In fact, the Constitution specifically states that if an issue is not specified as the responsibility of the federal government then it must be left to the states. That is exactly what the Supreme Court’s ruling against Roe vs Wade rightfully concluded. The Democrats do not want to follow the Constitution–they want a federal law on abortion. Kamala Harris has promised to remove the filibuster rule and pack the court in order to accomplish this objective. They also want to avoid the reality that terminating a child that can live on its own with proper medical care, is not murder.

As in any debate, there are important issues that were not addressed. For example, the increasing crime rates and the destruction of our cities by failing to enforce the law. Anyone want to visit San Francisco? I do not. Recent reports show that due to the Biden/Harris open border policy, 425,000 criminals, 13,000 convicted murderers, and 16,000 sexual assault offenders were released into this country. The Democrats abuse of the law to go after their political opponents should alarm all Americans. No president has ever been indicted while in office or out of office other than President Trump. Yet, they continue to say that he is the threat to democracy when they are the real threat!

Let’s face reality. Harris/Walz are the most radical socialists ever to run for president and vice president. Their policies will make America a weak, failing, socialist country. Choice: big government socialism or traditional American free enterprise and individual freedom. Easy decision actually.

The Cost Of Bidenomics

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On Monday, The Daily Signal posted an article that provides some insight into the actual state of the American economy.

The article reports:

Small-business bankruptcies are up 61% on the year. It is a cackle-nomics miracle.

The data comes from bankruptcy analyst Epiq, which reports that commercial filings for Chapter 11 bankruptcies soared to 4,553 so far this year.

Meanwhile, total corporate bankruptcies are also rising, hitting the highest since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, which is hitting especially hard in retail, with a parade of chains going under this year, including Red Lobster and its beloved endless shrimp. Never forget what they have taken from us.

What’s causing it? Simple: Inflation, high interest costs, and COVID-19 loans.

Inflation, of course, drives up business costs to the point they have to hike prices, which chases consumers out.

High interest rates are well-known to strangle business. In fact, that’s why the Fed does them, to strangle household spending enough that federal spending has inflation all to itself.

And then the COVID-19 loans: During the pandemic, the Small Business Administration pumped out 4 million loans—worth about $380 billion—in so-called economic-injury disaster loans. Note these were separate from the Paycheck Protection Program loans, where $800 billion were handed out to bribe voters into lockdowns.

While many of the PPP loans were fraudulent—actually, most of them, according to NPR—96% of those loans were forgiven.

Incidentally, one gang member recently killed in a Baltimore shootout had, it turned out, an outstanding PPP loan for a nanotech company. Not a joke.

Thing is, those $380 billion in injury loans actually do have to be paid back.

And it turns out a lot of companies can’t. Eighty percent are still outstanding—$300 billion—so, we’re probably just seeing the tip of the injury-loan bankruptcies.

As Tim Walz stated at a recent Pennsylvania rally, “We can’t afford four more years of this!”

Please follow the link above for further details.

The New Jobs Report

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On Friday, The Epoch Times posted an article about the latest jobs report. The economy is cooling down, which will probably provide the Federal Reserve with an excuse to lower interest rates in the hope of providing a Democrat election victory.

The article reports:

The U.S. economy created fewer jobs than the market projected in August as the overheated labor market of the past few years continues to show signs of cooling off.

Last month, payrolls increased by 142,000, falling short of the consensus estimate of 160,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The unemployment rate eased to 4.2 percent, down from 4.3 percent in July. This was in line with economists’ expectations.

Average hourly wages surged at a higher-than-expected pace of 0.7 percent, up from a 0.1 percent drop in July—this was revised from the initial report of 0.2 percent growth. Average hourly earnings also climbed to a better-than-expected year-over-year rate of 3.8 percent, up from 3.6 percent.

The labor force participation rate was unchanged at 62.7 percent. Average weekly hours ticked up to 34.3 from 34.2.

Much of the job creation was concentrated in construction (34,000), health care (31,000), government (24,000), and social assistance (13,000).

There were some other interesting numbers in the report:

So far this year, the total number of downward job revisions equals 372,000.

The number of people working two or more jobs increased by 65,000 to 8.538 million.

In August, full-time jobs plummeted by more than 400,000, and part-time employment increased by 527,000.

Inflation is hurting all Americans, and until the government stops its runaway spending, inflation will continue to be a problem.

 

 

This Won’t Be A Surprise To Most Americans

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On Wednesday, The Daily Caller posted an article about the Biden administrations’ reporting of the jobs reporting during the past year or so.

The article reports:

The federal government overestimated the number of jobs in the U.S. economy by 818,000 between April 2023 and March 2024, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Wednesday, stoking fears of a slowdown in the U.S. economy.

Economists at Goldman Sachs (GS) and Wells Fargo anticipated the government had overestimated job growth by at least 600,000 in that span, while economists at JPMorgan Chase had predicted a lesser decline of 360,000, according to Bloomberg. The downward revision follows a trend of the BLS overestimating the number of nonfarm payroll jobs added, with the cumulative number of new jobs reported in 2023 roughly 1.3 million less than previously thought as of February 2024

The article concludes:

Wednesday’s downward revision has also heightened concern that the Federal Reserve has waited too long to begin cutting interest rates, Bloomberg reported. If the FOMC hesitates to cut rates for too long, it could result in recession instead of a soft landing — an economic slowdown in which inflation is brought down without causing recession.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decided to hold its target federal funds rate between 5.25% and 5.50% in July, marking the eighth meeting in a row the FOMC has decided to keep rates at their current 23-year high.

“Wall Street is increasingly waking up to the fact that the economy post-covid has never been as good as the government bean counters claimed, and a recession may have already begun,” Antoni told the DCNF. “These revisions are a violent shove in the direction of reality.”

The economic rebound has been slowed by government policies that are not totally related to interest rates. Government regulation and tax policy play a big role in America\s economy. If a Democrat is elected President in November, you will see tax rates skyrocket and the economy stumble.

When Is Eliminating Taxes On Tips Bad?

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Recently Kamala Harris has stated in a campaign speech that she would like to eliminate income taxes on tips. That’s interesting. According to an article in Breitbart posted on Sunday, in 2022 she cast the deciding vote to allow the IRS to track down workers’ tips so that they could be taxed. That provision was part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Among other things, that bill provided $80 billion in additional funding to the IRS. The Senate voted 50-50 to approve the bill, and Kamala Harris cast the deciding vote.

On Monday, Breitbart posted an article reporting the following:

In a stunning display of hypocrisy and double standards, CBS News attacked former President Donald Trump when he announced his “no tax on tips” policy proposal in June and then suddenly became uncritical of the idea when Vice President Kamala Harris copied Trump on Saturday.

“Vice President Kamala Harris is rolling out a new policy position, saying she’ll fight to end taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” CBS announced in a Monday X post.

When President Trump proposed the idea, CBS immediately claimed that it would cost the federal government up to $250 billion over 10 years. Now that Kamala Harris has proposed it, there is no mention of the cost.

This is how the mainstream media works.

The Economic News Is Questionable At Best

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On Friday, The Epoch Times posted an article about the latest unemployment numbers. Bidenomics does not seem to be all that it is cracked up to be.

The article reports:

The U.S. economy created fewer jobs than expected while the unemployment rate increased, signaling that the labor market could be going through a rapid deceleration at a time when the Federal Reserve could soon be cutting interest rates.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 114,000 new jobs in July, down from 179,000 in June. This fell short of the consensus estimate of 175,000.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.3 percent, up from 4.1 percent, and higher than economists’ expectations of 4.1 percent. This represents the highest jobless rate since October 2021.

Average hourly earnings eased to a smaller-than-expected pace of 3.6 percent year-over-year. On a monthly basis, average hourly earnings edged up 0.2 percent.

The labor force participation rate inched higher to 62.7 percent, from 62.6 percent. Average weekly hours slipped to 34.2, from 34.3.

Health care accounted for much of the jobs, with 55,000 new positions added last month. This was followed by construction (25,000) and government (17,000).

The article also noted:

Additionally, the household portion of the monthly jobs report, which removes duplication, showed the economy created 67,000 new jobs.

The number of people working two or more jobs surged to 8.473 million, up from 8.34 million. Full-time workers advanced by 448,000, while part-time workers declined by 325,000.

The divergence between U.S.-born and foreign-born workers widened compared to a year ago. U.S.-born workers tumbled by more than 1.2 million from July 2023. By comparison, foreign-born workers increased by roughly 1.3 million.

The economy right now has high inflation and wages that are not keeping up with inflation. The easiest way to ease inflation would be to resume domestic drilling and cut federal spending. Both would require the voters to make changes in both the White House and Congress in November.

Rewriting History

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On Tuesday, Newsbusters posted an article about the spin the mainstream media is putting out about President Biden dropping out of the presidential campaign.

The article notes that CBS’s Mark Strassman is comparing President Biden to Lyndon Johnson in his decision to step aside. I don’t mean to nitpick here, but I am not convinced President Biden willingly made the decision to step aside. I think there was a “Godfather” moment with Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama that was the culmination of the effort to remove him from the campaign. Much of America was shocked when they watched the June debate. I don’t think the Democrat leaders were. I think they put President Biden out there because his poll numbers had been consistently low, and it was a step down the path to removing  him from the campaign. He has now removed himself from the campaign. It is also odd that he has not made any sort of appearance in a number of days.

The article reports:

We were told that Biden is stepping down due to bad polling, proof evident that he had no path to victory in 2024. But now we are getting a sliver of an admission that health was always a concern. The media are slowly circling back to what everyone else already knew to be true.

Of course, the big rewrite of history here is that Biden is somehow walking away from a second term in a patriotic exercise. This isn’t the case, either.

The truth is that Biden was pushed out of the race by his own party due to the aforementioned bad polling after the disastrous June 20th debate, which exposed the cognitive decline that people talked about for so long but never drew coverage in the media.

I don’t think history will look upon the Biden administration favorably. When President Biden came into office, inflation was low, the economy was rebounding, and the border was relatively secure. Four years later none of that is still true.

How Much Is The Biden Presidency Costing Americans?

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On Tuesday, PJ Media posted an article about the impact of the Biden administration’s economic policies on Americans.

The article reports:

Thank to Joe Biden-flation and his catastrophic economic policies, American families are spending over $11,000 more annually just for necessities.

The obscene cost of inflation is hitting hardworking Americans, as overall prices have gone up almost 20% since the Meanderer-in-Chief came into office in 2021. Americans can thank the Biden administration for that $11,400 extra for necessities, about 20% of the average U.S. annual salary. And if you hear the lie that inflation is down, don’t believe it. All that means is that the inflation rate is allegedly slowing, and the Biden administration loves to engage in monkey business to manipulate such statistics.

As Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) posted last week, “Inflation is still ~50% higher than the targeted rate. Biden’s inflation is far from over.” Unfortunately, he’s right.

Grocery and energy costs have, of course, gone up drastically under Biden, as the Washington Examiner reported. Gas is 33% more expensive than at the start of 2021 and electricity prices increased 29%. But groceries have, perhaps, seen the most staggering increase:

Grocery staples such as cheese, eggs, meat, and fruits and vegetables have all seen significant price increases, with ground beef as much as 103% higher.

Because inflation persists and prices continue to climb, it’s getting harder and harder to make ends meet. Biden wants you to believe the government can spend its way to prosperity — which is good for the government but not so for the rest of us.

The Biden administration continues to lie about inflation, but most Americans believe what they see rather than what the Biden administration tells them.

The Rest Of The Story On Inflation

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On Friday, the Associated Press posted an article about the current state of inflation.

The article reports:

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States rose by a larger-than-expected 2.6% last month from a year earlier, a sign that some inflation pressures remain high.

The increase, the sharpest year-over-year increase since March 2023, comes at a time when other price indicators are showing that inflation has continued to ease.

The Labor Department said Friday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 0.2% from May to June after being unchanged the month before. Excluding food and energy prices, which tend to bounce around from month to month, so-called core wholesale prices increased 0.4% from May and 3% from June 2023.

The increase in wholesale inflation last month was driven by a sizable 0.6% rise in services prices, led by higher profit margins for machinery and auto wholesalers.

By contrast, the overall prices of goods fell 0.5%. Gasoline prices tumbled 5.8% at the wholesale level. Food prices also dropped.

The producer price index can provide an early sign of where consumer inflation is headed. Economists also watch it because some of its components, notably healthcare and financial services, flow into the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge — the personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, index.

Most of the media reported that inflation was slowing based on the producer price index. That number was used to fuel speculation of a federal reserve rate decrease by the end of the year. That likely caused the bump in the stock market yesterday. It’s nice to celebrate a drop in food as fuel prices, but where are they in comparison to where they were four years ago? The Biden administration is hoping you won’t remember.

Bidenomics or Badonomics?

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Author:  R. Alan Harrop,Ph.D     harropcrew1@gmail.com 

Biden keeps saying that his economic plan is working for the American people. Is his so-called Bidenomics good or bad for the country? Let’s take a look at the truth; something the Biden regime seems allergic to.    

Inflation is a hidden tax that never is reversed. It may slow down, but short of an economic collapse, prices will not go down and we will always have some inflation. When Biden took office, the annual inflation rate was 1.2%.  Now it is about 10%.   This rate, however, does not reflect the actual increase in prices since 2020. Food has gone up close to 80% as any food shopper can tell you. Gasoline is up from $1.87 per gallon to $3.45 per gallon which is an 85% increase. These are essential expenses that are not included in the government’s Consumer Price Index and therefore make this estimate of inflation unreliable. Housing, which we all must have, has gone up dramatically. The cost of the average home has gone up 47% since 2020 which is unheard of. Rents are up an average of 26% over the same period. Most importantly, mortgage interest rates essentially doubled to 7%, which represents an increase in monthly payments of about $1200 for the average home purchase. Insurance has also gone up substantially for automobiles and homes (30%). Utility Costs have also increased significantly since they are up about 30%. None of these items are optional and cannot be avoided. Other items like cars, appliances, clothing, etc. are also up substantially. Who is hurt the most by these increases? Well of course, the average American not the Democrat elite. 

As a result of these increases, the average family has experienced an $8,500  annual reduction in their purchasing power and standard of living. But according to Biden, his economic plans are working and you are just too blind to see it!  You are being gas lighted. 

What has caused this destructive inflation?  Excessive government spending and printing paper money is the primary cause. However, the war against fossil fuels and excessive government subsidies for so-called green energy projects are also major contributors. All of these things are part of the Marxist agenda of the Biden regime that is out to destroy this country. 

This situation threatens the traditional American Dream. This is especially true for younger Americans. There was a time when young married couples could afford to buy a new home and begin the journey to financial security and wealth. The equity in a home is the bedrock of financial security and the American Dream.  With the dramatic increase in home prices, mortgage rates, and home insurance, young people can no longer afford to buy and must resort to paying rent.  Not a good thing to do in the long run. 

So, we are back to President Reagan’s question, “ Are you better off now than you were four years ago?” The answer is a no-brainer. You know what to do. 

 

The Problem Really Isn’t President Biden

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On Friday, The Federalist posted an article reminding us that the inflation, lack of border security, and rising crime rates are not solely the responsibility of President Biden. President Biden represents (and his policies represent) the platform of a particular political party.

The article notes:

CNN spent the hour after Thursday’s presidential debate in an emotional tailspin. But at the heart of their desperate “analysis” was speculation about whether the fumbling Biden should step down to let another Democrat jump in to carry the torch of “DEMOCRACY.”

The jig is up. Here’s what disillusioned Democrats and independents and moderates need to know. What all the blue-state refugees who now live in Texas and Florida instead of California and New York City need to admit. What all the fed-up middle-class families and forgotten nonwhite voters in the suburbs need to remember: These aren’t just Joe Biden policies that are disastrous. They’re Democrat policies.

Abortion. Economy. Crime. Immigration. Lawfare. Foreign policy. Health care. It doesn’t matter what pet issue has voters down in the dumps. Democrats are in lockstep on the losing side. And anywhere they aren’t in lockstep — like on whether Israel is a victim of terrorism or a group of oppressive “colonizers” — they tow the radical line.

The article concludes:

And our two-tiered system of justice — led by the deep state, rogue state prosecutors, and a leftist executive — wouldn’t stop just because Biden isn’t on the ticket. The same people who raided the homes of pro-lifers while seeking immunity for the Biden family; prosecuted one man for “classified documents” while letting other worse offenders go free; and made up novel legal theories and new statutes of limitations to gag, fine, and ultimately imprison their chief political opponent are beholden to a party, not just the sitting president.

So when the Democrat armchair class suddenly gets weepy about Biden’s decline, saying Democrats “‘HAVE A PROBLEM’ AFTER BIDEN’S DEBATE PERFORMANCE,” don’t buy the spin that a shiny new Democrat could bail America out.

It isn’t just Biden that’s ruined America. It’s his party.

It’s very easy to focus on personalities instead of party platforms. I suggest that voters read each party’s platform before they vote. Which platform best represents your views? The answer to that question is as important as the individual candidate.

What A Difference An Election Made

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On Monday, Breitbart posted the following headline:

Argentina Logs First Week with No Inflation in Food Prices in 30 Years

This is one of many positive results of the election of President Javier Milei, who began his term as President in December 2023.

The article reports:

A study published on Sunday by Econométrica, a private Argentine consulting firm, first reported the no-inflation week. In its study, Econométrica analyzed 8,000 prices in local online supermarkets and found no change when compared to the preceding week — something that has not happened in Argentina in three decades. In addition to the lack of variation in prices in one week, the study found that the prices of food and drinks only experienced an increase of 0.1 percent in the past 15 days.

…Upon taking office in December, Milei enacted a series of “shock therapy” economic policies to restore Argentina’s economy after nearly two decades of socialist rule left it in a precarious state and on the verge of a hyperinflation spiral.

Since then, monthly inflation rates in Argentina have experienced a dramatic and continued downward trend, going from 25.5 percent in December to 4.2 percent in May, the lowest rate experienced in the country in over two years. In April, Argentina recorded a surplus of its gross domestic product (GDP) during the first quarter of the year — something that the South American nation had not seen since 2008.

Milei is in the Czech Republic on the final stop of a four-day tour of Europe that began on Friday with a visit to Spain, followed by a two-day stop in Germany over the weekend that included an encounter with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Milei is slated to meet with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala on Monday morning.

The article concludes:

Milei also confirmed that his administration would not promote a devaluation of the Argentine peso, echoing statements by Economy Minister Luis Caputo last week where he ruled out such plans. Caputo instead said he would continue implementing the current plan, which focuses on maintaining a good relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and upholding a currency exchange system that allows companies to sell 20 percent of their income in U.S. dollars in the financial market and settle the remaining 80 percent at the official exchange rate.

“There are professionals who, in order to justify and wash their mistakes, make unfortunate arguments, which speak more about what they want to happen than what really has to happen,” Milei said. “There are sectors that find it convenient to have low dollar salaries and more poor and indigent people, and we believe that the situation works in a different way.”

This could happen in America with the proper election results.

The Choice Is Between Bad And Awful

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On Wednesday, Armstrong Economics posted an article about inflation and recession.

The article reports:

Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari has advised against anticipating near-term rate cuts. While speaking to the Financial Times, the Fed president stated that people would simply prefer a recession to continued inflation.

“I have learned that the American people—and maybe people in Europe equally—really hate high inflation. I mean, really viscerally hate high inflation,” he told the Financial Times’ The Economics Show podcast. Kashkari is speaking as if we are not already in a recession. It is not difficult to understand the “visceral” hatred people around the world feel toward rising prices. The effects of inflation are felt with every purchase, causing the average person to adjust their entire lifestyle.

The article concludes:

Real prices have far surpassed anything they calculate in CPI. Everyone understands that prices have risen far more than the arbitrary number the Fed provides us. Taxes are continually increasing for everyone in every tax bracket. The government not only adds to inflationary issues with their spending but then expects their citizens to foot a portion of the bill with taxes, which will simply never be enough.

Then we have Washington telling the masses to blame corporations for price gouging while raising their taxes and making it increasingly difficult to conduct business and maintain a large workforce. It is not that the people would prefer to be in a recession, the real issue is that countless people are entering survival mode. People everywhere want to hold onto whatever they may have out of fear for the future, but they are unable even to hoard as real prices now demand they hand over whatever they have to maintain their lives.

In a recession, consumer spending drops, and people lose their jobs. A service economy such as the one America currently has is more vulnerable to recession than a manufacturing economy. A recession creates hardship for working families.Inflation impacts both working families and retirees. Either one is a bad deal. The most practical way to deal with inflation in America would be to cut government spending and to resume domestic oil production. Both of those things would help revive a miserable economy.

A Study in Entropy

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Entropy is defined as the trend of the universe toward disorder. Entropy is illustrated by what happens to a farmer’s field if he ignores it for a few years. It is also what happens to a tractor or wagon that is left out in a field unattended. Crops do not automatically grow in straight lines, and weeds do not pick themselves. It is not a good idea to let children raise themselves. It takes human effort to keep things moving forward.

Does entropy apply to nations? If freedom and liberty are not carefully nurtured, do they degrade? If the culture is not properly guarded and maintained, does it degrade into unhealthy places?

Recently there was something of an uproar about a commencement speech given by a National Football League player. In his speech, Harrison Butker praised the virtues of motherhood. He praised his wife for the role her support has played in his success. He stated that many of the women in the audience that day will eventually become mothers. They will struggle with balancing their roles as wives, mothers, and corporate employees. All those roles are important, but has our culture devalued the role of wife and mother? A poem by William Ross Wallace states, “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Is the Hand That Rules the World.” In the past, children learned basic foundational things from their mothers—baking cookies, shopping, language skills and values. In a world where career is valued over motherhood, children may or may not learn these things at daycare. There is nothing wrong with daycare, but I can guarantee that a child’s daycare provider does not love the child the way his/her mother does. I understand that in today’s economy staying home with your children is something of a luxury, but it can be done. Is devaluing motherhood a step forward or a step backward?

The speech given by Harrison Butker would have merely been a statement of the obvious in 1970. What changed?

The programs of the Great Society and the War on Poverty came into their own in the 1970’s. In 1965, “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action, the Moynihan Report,” was written by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. He warned against the collapse of the black family unit, noting a rise in single-parent families. The Great Society programs exacerbated that problem by making payments to women only if there was not a man living in the house. The destruction those programs created in the black population later spread to the white population. The 1970’s also gave rise to the Feminist movement and created what was then the cottage industry of daycare—now a billion-dollar industry. This further weakened the family structure—the foundation of a healthy society.

The overspending of the 1960’s and 1970’s and beyond created an inflationary cycle that forced many women into the workforce. One positive aspect of this is that educational and professional opportunities for women increased. That at least was a positive thing.

Is America now experiencing a state of entropy? How many Americans voted in the last primary election? How many Americans voted in the last Presidential election? Are you willing to take an active role in your government? What impact will the dramatic increase in population from places that do not share our culture have on our own already degrading culture?

If Americans want to save our country from entropy, they need to stand up and fight for the values and culture that made this country great. If we do not do that soon, we will go the way of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.

The Root Causes Of The Current Inflation

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On Wednesday, Breitbart posted an article about the cause of the level of inflation Americans are currently dealing with.

The article quotes Neel Kashkari, who runs the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

The article reports:

Surging immigration is keeping inflation and interest rates high, Fed honcho Neel Kashkari said in an interview with the Telegraph.

Kashkari, who runs the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, said he’s not ready to consider cutting rates until he sees “several months of real progress on inflation.” The flood of immigrants, he argued, is hindering that progress.

U.S. borrowing costs are likely to stay put for “an extended period of time,” Kashkari warned.

He’s particularly freaked out by the booming demand for housing, which just won’t cool off despite sky-high rates.

Kashkari’s immigration bombshell runs directly contrary to the claims by the Biden administration and its allies that surging immigration is keeping down inflation by depressing wages.

Kashkari said that “dramatic increase in immigration” is boosting housing demand. More people working from home and years of underbuilding aren’t helping either. It’s a perfect storm that’s keeping the housing market red-hot.

The article concludes:

He (Kashkari) also noted that services inflation had been “much stickier” in the past few months, making it even tougher to justify rate cuts.

“In the second half of last year, we saw very rapid disinflationary progress, and that was comforting for all of us because the economy was strong and inflation was falling quickly. I expected and hoped that that was going to continue in the first quarter of this year [but] inflation has more or less moved sideways,” Kashkari said.

Like other Fed officials, Kashkari said he needs solid proof that inflation is heading back to 2 percent before he’s comfortable with rate cuts.

“I want to see evidence that inflation is headed well back down towards the 2 percent target. I’m not saying that we have to get all the way back down to 2 percent before we start cutting, but I need to be convinced that that’s where we’re headed before I would be comfortable normalizing interest rates,” he said.

Rate cuts could result in people feeling better about the economy (a good thing in an election year), but they could also create even more inflation.