Showing posts with label inflation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label inflation. Show all posts
An unfair comparison on price changes: "Gas Prices Grow More Under Obama than Carter"
gasoline prices inflationHere is the claim from US News & World Report:
Under the Carter administration, gas prices increased by 103.77 percent. Gas prices since Obama took office have risen by 103.79 percent. No other presidents in recent years have struggled as much with soaring oil prices. Under the Reagan administration, gas prices actually dropped 66 percent. When Bill Clinton was president, gas prices grew by roughly 30 percent, and under both Bush presidencies, gas prices rose by 20 percent. . . .So what is the problem? Except for the Obama administration, all these numbers are from the beginning to end of these administrations. In Obama's case, it is from the beginning to what is the highest point during the administration. If one would pick the highest points during these other administrations, they would also look much worse.
Inflation over 8 percent?
inflation monetarypolicy stimulusA lot of people aren't making really big home purchases right now. What happens to inflation when really big purchases are excluded? From CBS News:
Forget the modest 3.1 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index, the government's widely used measure of inflation. Everyday prices are up some 8 percent over the past year, according to the American Institute for Economic Research.
The not-for-profit research group measures inflation without looking at the big, one-time purchases that can skew the numbers. That means they don't look at the price of houses, furniture, appliances, cars, or computers. Instead, AIER focuses on Americans' typical daily purchases, such as food, gasoline, child care, prescription drugs, phone and television service, and other household products.
The institute contends that to get a good read on inflation's "sticker shock" effect, you must look at the cost of goods that the average household buys at least once a month and factor in only the kinds of expenses that are subject to change. That, too, eliminates the cost of housing because when you finance your home with a fixed-rate mortgage, that expense remains constant until you refinance or move. . . .
"Greenspan - US Can Pay Any Debt It Has Because We Can Always Print Money"
inflation uscreditrating"The US can pay any debt it has because we can always print money." This sound like something a third world country would do. Who is going to want to invest in US bonds if they risk the government destroying the value of those bonds through inflation? What does this talk by itself do to the risk of hold US bonds?
Lundberg Survey says that regular unleaded gasoline has hit $4 a gallon
inflationThe Lundberg Survey says that regular unleaded gasoline hit the magic $4 a gallon number on Friday, May 6th. Gas Price Watch claimed that regular unleaded had hit the number a few days earlier, though since then prices fell below $4 and now are back up to $4. My piece on the high gas prices from Fox News is available here.
How have gas prices changed over time?
Energy inflation
I always get a kick out of people making predictions about what gas prices will be at some point in the future. Drudge had a prediction up that gas prices would reach $5 per gallon by Memorial day. If that were true, the price would already be at that level. If you really thought that gas would be at $5 a gallon at the end of May, it would pay for gas companies to store gas that would have been sold today and keeping putting it aside until the current price were equal to the future expected price. Of course, doing that would lower the future price at the same time it raised the current one. To do anything else would be essentially leave money on the table.
Click on figure to make it bigger.
The source for gas prices is available here.
The source for the CPI is available here from Table B–62.
"More Than Half of Americans Want Fed Reined In or Abolished"
inflationWhen I first read the headline for this Bloomberg News piece, I thought this is good news. Unfortunately, what is being discussed here, eliminating the Fed's independence, will make it even more political. What would be nice if the government abolished the Fed and let banks issue competing currency. Competition would do more to restrain aberrant money supply behavior than any government can be trusted to behave.
The survey, conducted Dec. 4-7, also shows deep skepticism, especially among Republicans, over the Fed’s Nov. 3 announcement that it would buy bonds in an attempt to bring down unemployment and prevent deflation. More than half say the purchases won’t help the economy.
The policy, known as quantitative easing, was the target of criticism in Washington and overseas. That prompted Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke to appear in an interview on CBS television’s “60 Minutes” program on Dec. 5 to defend his actions.
Across the Spectrum
Americans across the political spectrum say the Fed shouldn’t retain its current structure of independence. Asked if the central bank should be more accountable to Congress, left independent or abolished entirely, 39 percent said it should be held more accountable and 16 percent that it should be abolished. Only 37 percent favor the status quo.
In a previous poll, conducted Oct. 7-10, 35 percent of Americans said the Fed should be radically overhauled, while 8 percent said it should be abolished.
Republicans and independents are more likely to support ending the Fed, with 19 percent of independents, 16 percent of Republicans, and 12 percent of Democrats wanting to do away with the central bank. Among those who identify themselves as supporters of the Tea Party movement, which wants to rein in government, 21 percent want to abolish the Fed. . . .
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
POPULER
