If we believe the official inflation figures, supposedly living standards in the US are rising: Yet the proportion of people with cars is falling, the proportion of households with a car is falling faster, and the amount of meat people are eating is falling – consistent with a cpi rising at about the rate that shadowstats claims, about six to ten percent
Tag: inflation
Inflation
Total sales are rising ten percent a year in nominal terms.   Surprise surprise, shadowstats estimates ten percent inflation per year if we use the measure of inflation that was used in the the 1980s.   Hawaiian Libertarian reports that that is pretty much what he is seeing when he puts his money down. So what is the true rate of inflation? There is no one true rate of inflation, since to …
Hyperinflation
Officially, America has near zero inflation and a mere ten percent official unemployment. Odd that it has a mere ten percent unemployment when the proportion of young adult males with jobs has dropped a lot more than ten percent. As with third world and Marxist countries, the government’s reaction to bad news is to declare a new era of prosperity. The recession is officially over. With an unprecedented proportion of …
American debt
Thus the excess “private” debt is not private. The normal level of public and “private†debt is about twice GDP, say twenty six trillion, so we are about thirty trillion or so in the hole and getting deeper fast – well past the danger level of twice GDP.
Inflation looms
The bond market does not tell us what the smart money people think inflation will be. It tells us what those among the smart money people who do not expect very high levels of inflation think inflation will be.
In addition to an on budget deficit of ten percent or so, there is also a much larger off budget deficit, in the form of an ever growing pile of government guarantees, which there is no will to restrain. Put the two deficits together, crisis looms.
Trees do not grow to the sky. That which cannot continue, must stop
Galt strike or inadequate aggregate demand?
The Randian concept of a Galt Strike is that if the elite slack off, the masses will be impoverished – that countries are rich or poor according to whether the elite is productive, while the masses and resources do not matter much, except in extreme cases such as oil rich sheikdoms. There has been a large fall in GDP over the past six months: The Keynesian explanation of this fall is …
Smashing capitalism
President Barack Hussein Obama tells us: Your warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than it has ever been. Because starting today, the United States will stand behind your warranty. This reads like something out of “Atlas Shruggedâ€. I predict fifty percent inflation or so over the next three or four years – and that is if we eventually turn back from this course, or at least …
Geithner’s plan explained
President Barack Hussein Obama tells us: Your warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than it has ever been. Because starting today, the United States will stand behind your warranty. This reads like something out of “Atlas Shruggedâ€. I predict disturbing inflation or so over the next three or four years – and that is if we eventually turn back from this course, or at least stop …
The Stimulus bill
Bryan Caplan wonders why Brad Delong cannot comprehend those who doubt the effectiveness of the stimulus bill. Assume that creating value is easy, any brainless fool can do it, even the brainless fools at Washington Mutual. It is then immediately obvious that the government can make everything lovely by printing money and giving it to the morally worthy. Are car production lines shut down while unemployed workers idle? Just print …
Yes, the Fed can just keep on printing money.
The business times quotes an anonymous “senior London Banker†Someone will go under in this crisis, that’s for sure. The question is whether they stay under or get rescued. Let’s see whether this latest round of stabilisation helps, but if it doesn’t, it’s difficult to see what Plan B is. The Fed can’t just keep on printing money. Yes, the Fed can just keep on printing money. The banks have …