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Consumer Prices Jumped. Should You Worry? That's Sparking A Heated Debate

There is a world wide shortage of shipping containers, shipping costs are rising drastically, the US trade deficit is larger than ever. All of the above are inflationary and non monetary in nature.

The monetary aspects of inflation is the massive government borrowing for the last 2 years. The amount being borrowed is roughly equal to 18-20% of GDP just for the federal government in 2020 and likely 2021. That is very inflationary, countered by the deflationary pressures of Covid 19.

The mass government debt, to be manageable will see higher inflation over the next 20 years to “ inflate “ the debt away. Government bonds will be a horrible investment over the next 20 years, with negative real returns
 
You ain't seen nothing yet.

Trump's policies resulted in stable consumer prices with virtually non-existent inflation. Biden enters the picture and his handler's policies result in immediate price increases and an immediate rise in inflation. It will only get worse.

But seriously...you should know that government price controls is the absolute WORSE solution to this problem. Price controls only result in two things: Increased demand and decreased supply.

Any time the government puts their thumb on the supply/demand/price scale, bad things happen.
Consumer prices rise more than expected, pushed by 9.1% jump in gasoline
  • The consumer price index rose 0.6% in March from the previous month and 2.6% from a year ago, according to the Department of Labor.
  • That compares to Dow Jones estimates of 0.5% and 2.5% respectively.
  • A surge in gasoline prices accounted for about half the gain amid signs of an accelerating economic recovery.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/13/us-consumer-price-index-march-2021.html

LOL The one term mistake had nothing to do with the huge drop in oil prices because of the pandemic and their return to more normal pricing has nothing to do with Biden. Unless you count his superb handling of the vaccination roll out that has exceeded all expectations making the world optimistic.that we have returned as a world power for good and that is driving oil prices up. The future is bright and we can thank our President. Surely people did not expect or want our depressed economy to last forever. We have suffered enough due to Mr. One and done's failure in controlling Covid and causing us to have the most cases and deaths in the entire world.
 
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The arguments that inflation hasn't been seen around much lately, or that people have predicted it and it hasn't yet happened, are pretty weak.
Oh, you mean we should just ignore the actual evidence that the inflation hawks were dead wrong, year after year? How convenient. :rolleyes:


Yes, it is surprising we haven't seen much inflation after the enormous cash inflows since 2008.
No. It isn't.

There were significant deflationary pressures, including a drop in spending, drop in investment, drop in lending, drop in GDP. Lots of people understood that's what was happening.


But there is no question that continued increases in the money supply without a corresponding increase in output will lead to inflation.
Or, those of us who actually look at the data know that there is no correlation between inflation and the money supply.

The US is not Venezuela or Zimbabwe or Weimar Germany. It's not printing money to pay directly for services. Inflation is not even remotely a real concern for the economy any time soon.
 
Oh, you mean we should just ignore the actual evidence that the inflation hawks were dead wrong, year after year? How convenient. :rolleyes:



No. It isn't.

There were significant deflationary pressures, including a drop in spending, drop in investment, drop in lending, drop in GDP. Lots of people understood that's what was happening.



Or, those of us who actually look at the data know that there is no correlation between inflation and the money supply.

The US is not Venezuela or Zimbabwe or Weimar Germany. It's not printing money to pay directly for services. Inflation is not even remotely a real concern for the economy any time soon.


You chose to leave out parts of my post in your quotes and then repeat what I said as if you were countering me. Why would you do that?
 
Yes, we need prices freezes, and you can call it what ever you want...

Right Wing, Republican and Conservatives would be an advocate of putting government funds into the system and supporting private business to "increase prices to suck it all up". Then Right Wing, Republican and Conservatives be the first on whining and crying about "my tax dollars", and claiming that the tax dollars did not produce the result it could have.

I'm so sick of Right Wing, Republican and Conservatives slinging out the stupidity of ignorance in their usage of the word Socialism. America has been a system with Socialistic Processes since its inception. Why do you think the first white men who claimed themselves as the "only one" to be considered as "person" and only those considered as person, could vote ? It was so they could divert all social gains to themselves. Why do you think wealthy men pursue the power of political office? to make damn sure the general public gets as little as possible of anything, and the lion's share goes to the wealthy, the industrialist and the money manipulators within and of the stock markets.


Geez.... Right Wing, Republicans and Conservatives, never seem to learn, they have been so deeply groomed into worship the Serf Master, until they can't even see beyond that consumption that has overtaken them for centuries and decades, which is why many are dire poor and working poor struggling and whining everyday, and still ignorant enough to back giving the wealthy another tax break, and another and another.

How are we going to freeze oil prices? Half of the .6% gain was from rising oil prices. Did you think $2 a gallon gas was going be forever? This inflation myth is a joke. Yes prices will go up as our economy returns to normal, would you rather we kept the pandemic for another year?
 
First of all, your focus on the source allowed you to avoid this point: "And tariffs, which the Trump admin was proud to impose, are INTENDED to raise prices over the natural level, to make US goods more competitive, or foreign goods less competitive. Do you not understand it's a kind of price control, or just don't care because Trump did it?"

The source is in the graph - FRED - Fed Reserve St Louis. It's a standard source for this kind of data, presented just about any way you want to present it. But here's a link.



OK, this is a little different presentation but shows the same thing: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPALTT01USM657N

View attachment 67328320
I disregarded your nonsense about the purpose of Trump's tariffs. He wasn't trying to raise prices at all. He didn't do it to make US goods more competitive. He used tariffs as a weapon. As a club. He used tariffs to get other countries to change their abusive trade practices...most notably with China. And it was working.

Your new graph supports my point...at least, pertaining to prices...except it's referring to the CP growth rate, not the actual prices. I suggest you keep an eye on that change graph over the next year or two. Also keep an eye on the changes in inflation.

As I said...you ain't seen nothing yet.
 
The monetary aspects of inflation is the massive government borrowing for the last 2 years.
No. It isn't. Government borrowing does not cause inflation.


The amount being borrowed is roughly equal to 18-20% of GDP just for the federal government in 2020 and likely 2021. That is very inflationary, countered by the deflationary pressures of Covid 19.
No. It isn't. GDP dropped by 5% in Q2 2020, and 31% in Q3 2020. The massive spending bills last year didn't cause inflation. The massive spending bills this year didn't cause inflation.

Keep in mind that a lot of the spending is replacing lost spending -- e.g. wages not collected, state tax revenues not collected.

In addition, a lot of the spending will be phased in over years, especially with the infrastructure bill.


The mass government debt, to be manageable will see higher inflation over the next 20 years to “ inflate “ the debt away.
LOL

No. No. That will not happen.

As inflation rates go up, so does the cost of the debt. While some bonds are locked in to 20- and 30-year rates, they are also offered in 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 24, 36 month lengths.

If the US was in serious jeopardy of defaulting, they still wouldn't deliberately print up huge sums, as that would probably be equally (if not more) damaging than just restructuring the debt or giving creditors a haircut.


Government bonds will be a horrible investment over the next 20 years, with negative real returns
lol

Hello? They're ALREADY a "horrible investment." The yield on a 1-year T-Bill is 0.06%.

You don't buy Treasuries to earn a return. You do it because it's the most secure asset in the world. A big part of that is knowing that the Fed will not tolerate 10% inflation.
 
You chose to leave out parts of my post in your quotes and then repeat what I said as if you were countering me. Why would you do that?
Dude? I didn't leave anything critical out from your post. It's right there for all to see, too. It's not like you listed tons of data to back up your claims.
 
Some people just never learn.
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”
― Upton Sinclair
 
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I disregarded your nonsense about the purpose of Trump's tariffs. He wasn't trying to raise prices at all. He didn't do it to make US goods more competitive. He used tariffs as a weapon. As a club. He used tariffs to get other countries to change their abusive trade practices...most notably with China. And it was working.

Your new graph supports my point...at least, pertaining to prices...except it's referring to the CP growth rate, not the actual prices. I suggest you keep an eye on that change graph over the next year or two. Also keep an eye on the changes in inflation.

As I said...you ain't seen nothing yet.
The only thing about the tariffs that were "working" was that they put our manufacturing sector into a recession and cost Americans billions in increased prices. Oil prices were depressed by the pandemic and they are returning to more normal levels which account for half of that March number. We are about to have a huge economic expansion that will make the one term mistake shit his pants too and this time it will not be just the wealthy that benefit.


U.S. Manufacturing Slumps as Trade War Damage Lingers
Manufacturing activity fell to its lowest level in more than a decade, a sign of fallout from President Trump’s trade war.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/business/manufacturing-trump-trade-war.html
 
~snipped your tariff nonsense~

Oil prices were depressed by the pandemic and they are returning to more normal levels which account for half of that March number. We are about to have a huge economic expansion that will make the one term mistake shit his pants too.
Any coming expansion will be the result of removal of COVID restrictions...which Trump told us would happen. But that expansion will be held back by the effects of Biden policies and actions. We are already seeing those effects and they'll only get worse.

btw, oil prices were low for Trump's entire term as a result of his oil policies and actions. Biden reversed all that and we see the immediate result of energy prices going up. Are those increased prices your idea of "more normal levels"?
 
Any coming expansion will be the result of removal of COVID restrictions...which Trump told us would happen. But that expansion will be held back by the effects of Biden policies and actions. We are already seeing those effects and they'll only get worse.
You mean the removal of covid deaths and hospitalizations as Biden vaccinates 4 million people a day. The restrictions saved lives while covid ravaged our economy and our people.
 
You mean the removal of covid deaths and hospitalizations as Biden vaccinates 4 million people a day. The restrictions saved lives while covid ravaged our economy and our people.
No. I mean exactly what I say.
 
Dude? I didn't leave anything critical out from your post. It's right there for all to see, too. It's not like you listed tons of data to back up your claims.

I pointed out that any inflationary pressure from stimulus since 2008 had strong deflationary headwinds. Then you recited the same point back to me. Here's the part of my post I'm referring to:

Yes, it is surprising we haven't seen much inflation after the enormous cash inflows since 2008. Personally, I think that's because the deflationary headwinds were much stronger than many people appreciated. Part of this may have been the downward pressure on wages coming from globalization. It may be that monetary policy was just about right.

You seem to know something about economics, in which case you should know that because something doesn't happen in the short term or even for decades doesn't mean it won't happen in the future. And just because somebody predicts something and it doesn't happen doesn't mean it never will. Those are the weak arguments that I referred to.

You don't think lots of money chasing few goods causes inflation. That's what most people think, maybe you have better information. What do you think does cause inflation? Why do you think there is zero risk of high inflation?
 
No. I mean exactly what I say.
Because you are a card carrying member of the death cult.

TMW200415.jpg
 
quote
Consumer Prices Jumped. Should You Worry? That's Sparking A Heated Debate

Prices for some of your favorite things are going up. The big question is how long the price hikes will last.

Consumer prices rose 0.6% in March, according to the Labor Department — the sharpest increase in nearly nine years. Over the last 12 months, the department's consumer price index has risen 2.6%. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, inflation was 0.3% in March and 1.6% over the last year.
end quote

Nothing more than GREED, the minute the merchants saw that Stimulus Money go into people's hands.

I think Biden, should have called for a "Price Freeze' the minute those checks started going out. We know the history of "greed in society. The more people are helped, the greed monsters come in and truly and rob them by price hike fixing.

There should be some policy put in place when the Infrastructure Plan goes into effect, of a "Price Freeze on Building Materials" !!! Or the same set of character will do nothing but invoke price hikes to fleece all they can.
Every material items bought, rented and leased with Stimulus money should have to be managed by "Government Contract Pricing Controls", because history has shown us, that the same set of character will fleece the system of those "everyday peoples' tax money to enrich themselves, by price hikes. Clauses should be written in every contract that hold those who get the Contracts to strict limits on Change Orders Pricing Hikes, and any other kind of Price Hikes.. that these criminal types have always engaged.
Everything that is needed to be bought, leased and rented should be entered into a Government Data Portal, and the payment issued through a Government Data Payment System.... so we can top the Criminals in their tracks... and any who submit padded data can be tracked down, and make them pay back 10 times the amount they try to rip off and they get 10 yrs jail time for each count.

Do the exact same thing HUD did, when it saw the people ripping off programs by claiming excess Administrative Cost, and put a CAP on how much goes to Administration.

Have the Army Corp of Engineers, to scrutinize the materials necessary to build a project, so there is no more of these contractors and supplies "over exaggerating the amount of materials', and filling each others pockets with through that game, and then the Contractor or the greed chasers comes in and buys the excess and the project contractors profits from selling off the excess.

It's everyone's tax money that pays for this, and people need to "wise up" and stop acting as if they are unaware of this historical game of rip, strip and fleece.

We have enough computer systems, CAD systems and Material Tracking systems to put a stop to the old historical game of rip off that happens any time there is a public construction project.

We need to employ "On Time Delivery" the same as many warehouse have used for decades to ensure there is no "overstocking", which results to be sold off at a discount into a secondary market.

People sit mindless as if they don't think about this stuff, and then complain when projects go over budget and become inferior in quality and durability, while the contractors walk away with a kings ransom.
Wake Up Time People.

If you want to cry my tax dollars, then pay attention and learn how to demand systems use the technology to manages accountability!!! Or shut up about "my tax dollars'. These types love to complain about any money that goes to help general citizens, but they have been trained through history to hold a blind eye to the contractor rip off game, because its basically been dominated by wealthy white men. It's time to change that dynamic, and only deal with "honest contractors" and don't just trust them, use the data system that 'manage the process', because blindly trusting them has never worked.
Leftist policies increase inflation.
 
Its not naked greed.

Paid covid leaves = increased costs
Rising energy costs = increased costs
Commitments on 15$/hour = increased costs

Biden has no damned power to call for a price freeze. I'm not sure even Congress can do so constitutionally unless we are under a declaration of war and the materials are vital to that effort.

You're kidding? You are just now figuring out government bids are full of graft and corruption?
quote
June 13, 1973 —President Nixon ordered a freeze on all retail prices, including those of food, for as much as 60 days.
end quote

Yes, there should have been a price free...and it should have stayed in place during the cycles of Pandemic related stimulus funds being put into the system. Why put funds to stimulate the economy and let "greed suck it away". In the case of Pandemic, it was trying to give people a lifeline to try to keep their head above the water line, and greed monsters only see it as an opportunity to gouge and reduce the buying power of the stimilus funds that are allocated.

I don't expect Republicanism or Conservatism and Right Wingers and Libertarians to understand it, because they will always side with the "greed gouging" of the wealthy. Then these same Republicans, Conservatives, Right Wingers and Libertarians turn around and complain about the Government.
  • Why give people (for example) $100, and inflation eats up $25 dollars of it. You don't, you put price freeze's in place!!!!
 
quote
June 13, 1973 —President Nixon ordered a freeze on all retail prices, including those of food, for as much as 60 days.
end quote

Yes, there should have been a price free...and it should have stayed in place during the cycles of Pandemic related stimulus funds being put into the system. Why put funds to stimulate the economy and let "greed suck it away". In the case of Pandemic, it was trying to give people a lifeline to try to keep their head above the water line, and greed monsters only see it as an opportunity to gouge and reduce the buying power of the stimilus funds that are allocated.

I don't expect Republicanism or Conservatism and Right Wingers and Libertarians to understand it, because they will always side with the "greed gouging" of the wealthy. Then these same Republicans, Conservatives, Right Wingers and Libertarians turn around and complain about the Government.
  • Why give people (for example) $100, and inflation eats up $25 dollars of it. You don't, you put price freeze's in place!!!!
There is no runaway inflation and if there was the Fed would raise interest rates. You are panicking because gasoline is not $2 a gallon anymore? That is not rational.
 
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I pointed out that any inflationary pressure from stimulus since 2008 had strong deflationary headwinds.
No, what you said is that "the arguments that we haven't seen inflation are weak," and that it is "surprising" that we didn't see more inflation.

My point is that the arguments are in fact strong, and that it was not -- and should not have been -- surprising at all.


You seem to know something about economics, in which case you should know that because something doesn't happen in the short term or even for decades doesn't mean it won't happen in the future.
lol

So just to be clear, someone can be wrong for decades about an economic claim, and still turn out right? Please.

If your claim was even remotely true, then economics would be useless, because nothing could be disproven. Don't be a hedgehog.

Back in the real world, no stimulus package has triggered a massive inflation in the US for at least 40 years, if not longer. AFAIK that isn't just the US, it also holds abroad. I think that's sufficient evidence to classify "zomg stimulus causes inflation baaah!!" as a zombie idea.


You don't think lots of money chasing few goods causes inflation. That's what most people think, maybe you have better information. What do you think does cause inflation?
I think your analysis of the current situation is 100% dead wrong.

To start with, during an economic downturn, we don't have "lots of money chasing few goods." That's what happened BEFORE the 2008 downturn. Demand for real estate, fueled by cheap credit and then by greed, resulted in lots of people borrowing lots of money for little housing inventory. SOME prices went through the roof -- houses, lumber, construction supplies -- but overall inflation was largely kept in check, because the prices for other goods stayed the same or fell; and supply generally met or exceeded demands.

During the 2008 recession, spending dropped and inventories rose, meaning there was less money chasing more goods. Despite credit being cheap, consumers didn't want to buy anything they didn't absolutely have to, and no one wanted to lend anyway. Savings went up, GDP and consumer spending went down, just as you'd expect in a downturn, hence the deflationary pressures. The Fed's actions, which didn't really have much of an effect anyway, did not wind up countering much of the deflation. Instead, it basically just made sure the banks had plenty of cash in reserve.

Thus... no one who understands economics should have been surprised by how low inflation was during the recovery.


Why do you think there is zero risk of high inflation?
Because the Fed, with the backing of most of the federal government, won't allow inflation to get out of control.

If inflation hits 5% for 2 months, the Fed isn't going to panic. If it stays at 5% for 6 months, they'll raise interest rates by a few basis points to cool things off. If it stays at 10% for a year, they will slam on the brakes. The ghost of Volcker is powerful indeed, and will remain so until political and/or economic conditions change so radically that the Fed is forced to abandon the positions it's held for the past 40 years.

In 1969, Milton Friedman came up with the "helicopter drop" or "helicopter money" thought experiment. In a deflation, the government can send cash directly to the public. The inflation caused by the direct distribution would counter existing deflationary pressures. And guess what? It works. And we know it works, because we've done it several times, and watched the effects. Isn't empirical evidence grand? :D
 
Leftist policies increase inflation.
Thank you for acknowledging that you don't understand the system and we certainly acknowledge your personal attempts to cover up the greed gouging of Right Wing Republicanism who pretend they are Conservatives.
We also know, all Right Wing Republicanism who pretend they are Conservatives want is to conserve as much as they can for the wealthy, at the expense of nation and people and our systems of society and governance.

Thank goodness none of my immediate family and close friends don't buy into Right Wing Republicanism and Right Winger fictional illusions of Conservatism.
They are all doing well and continuing to progress, many live in some of the best well kept communities and even those who live in rural areas are doing well. Their kids get educated and many of them are skilled and can and do work for themselves, and some have retired and living well, and some can retire any day they want and their lives won't decline in the areas of being able to maintain their living standards. Even people I know who live in challenged areas are stable and don't represent the decline that areas are labeled.
Most as we've seen especially Right Wing Republicanism who pretend they are Conservatives, don't know what exist in areas they maliciously label, because they don't go there...
These same Right Wing Republicanism who pretend they are Conservatives, won't discuss the many who are among their ranks who live in run down communities, delipidated trailer parks, rural areas strewn with junk and overgrown land, and etc... because those with a few dollars don't care about these people, instead of caring, they look down on them, as if looking down on them makes them feel better about themselves. Rather than, looking at the people and trying to figure out way the system can help and assist them to do better and live better.

Thank goodness for people like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Barrack Obama, who each created programming that helps these people and that help was open for any and all Americans who need it.

Left to Republicanism, every city will be filled with "massive group graves".... (the same thing Trump was hoping for with his denial of the virus, and leading people to gather and expose themselves and their families to a virus that to date has resulted to kill over a 1/2 million people in just one year.)
 
No, what you said is that "the arguments that we haven't seen inflation are weak," and that it is "surprising" that we didn't see more inflation.

My point is that the arguments are in fact strong, and that it was not -- and should not have been -- surprising at all.

"No"? You're going to deny what I actually posted when I re-posted it word for word in my reply above? Really?

Here it is again, with the rest of my original post added. The part you deny is in bold:

The arguments that inflation hasn't been seen around much lately, or that people have predicted it and it hasn't yet happened, are pretty weak.

Yes, it is surprising we haven't seen much inflation after the enormous cash inflows since 2008. Personally, I think that's because the deflationary headwinds were much stronger than many people appreciated. Part of this may have been the downward pressure on wages coming from globalization. It may be that monetary policy was just about right.

But there is no question that continued increases in the money supply without a corresponding increase in output will lead to inflation. And high inflation is very nasty for everyone. Anyone who lived through the 70s and early 80s does not want to see that again.

...

So just to be clear, someone can be wrong for decades about an economic claim, and still turn out right? Please.

....

Yes, absolutely.. Someone can be wrong for decades, and conditions can change. Something isn't "disproven" because a prediction isn't fulfilled; the prediction is predicated on assumptions, and if any of those assumptions is wrong in the short term, you will not see the predicted event in the short term. That doesn't mean it won't happen in the long term.

Back in the real world, no stimulus package has triggered a massive inflation in the US for at least 40 years, if not longer. ....

I never argued that any given stimulus package has caused inflation, or that this one would. I argued that the fundamentals of economics are such that high inflation can return if the conditions are right, and an excess money supply is classically one of those conditions. (You've said you don't agree with that, but you haven't said why you're right and the majority of economists are wrong.)

I think your analysis of the current situation is 100% dead wrong.

I haven't offered an analysis of the current situation. I've stated that the fact inflation hasn't been around for a long time isn't a good reason to think it can't return. I think your problem is that you are assuming I'm taking some partisan side on the question, which is 100% wrong on your part.

To start with, during an economic downturn, we don't have "lots of money chasing few goods." That's what happened BEFORE the 2008 downturn. ...

During the 2008 recession, spending dropped and inventories rose, meaning there was less money chasing more goods. Despite credit being cheap, consumers didn't want to buy anything they didn't absolutely have to, and no one wanted to lend anyway. Savings went up, GDP and consumer spending went down, just as you'd expect in a downturn, hence the deflationary pressures. ...

Thus... no one who understands economics should have been surprised by how low inflation was during the recovery.

For the fourth time now, I remind you that I pointed out that there were strong deflationary headwinds during and following the 2008 recession. Whether it's surprising or not that those headwinds were equal to or greater than the potential inflationary effect of injecting cash is a matter of opinion. Not everyone shares your opinion that it's unsurprising, thus the predictions that turned out to be wrong.

Because the Fed, with the backing of most of the federal government, won't allow inflation to get out of control.

If inflation hits 5% for 2 months, the Fed isn't going to panic. If it stays at 5% for 6 months, they'll raise interest rates by a few basis points to cool things off....

Well, you make that sound quite pat and painless. I think your guesses about what the Fed might do are probably right. But the Fed has made big mistakes in the past.

In 1969, Milton Friedman came up with the "helicopter drop" or "helicopter money" thought experiment. In a deflation, the government can send cash directly to the public. The inflation caused by the direct distribution would counter existing deflationary pressures. And guess what? It works. And we know it works, because we've done it several times, and watched the effects. Isn't empirical evidence grand? :D

Do I need to say it a fifth time? This is entirely consistent with what I said.
 
There is no runaway inflation and if there was the Fed would raise interest rates. You are panicking because gasoline is not $2 a gallon anymore? That is not rational.
Who said anything about Panic, There is no panic... the point is still the same... "impose price freezes, when the economy is being stimulated by Federal Taxpayer Funds". It's nothing complicated nor panic prone about that.

As to gas, you should be asking yourself, why is gas going up? When we have been overfilling our reserves for years now, every since we became able to independently produce what we need during the Obama Administration Era!!


______________________
quote
“Thankfully, America has vast domestic energy resources – enough oil and natural gas on federal lands alone to power 65 million cars for 60 years and heat 60 million households for 160 years,” the report states.
end quote
 
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There is a world wide shortage of shipping containers, shipping costs are rising drastically, the US trade deficit is larger than ever. All of the above are inflationary and non monetary in nature.

The monetary aspects of inflation is the massive government borrowing for the last 2 years. The amount being borrowed is roughly equal to 18-20% of GDP just for the federal government in 2020 and likely 2021. That is very inflationary, countered by the deflationary pressures of Covid 19.

The mass government debt, to be manageable will see higher inflation over the next 20 years to “ inflate “ the debt away. Government bonds will be a horrible investment over the next 20 years, with negative real returns
I think someone before they claim a shortage, may need to drive/fly or what ever, around and look at all the location who have shipping container, they use for "everything".... at some point they will have to install built in RFID mechanism, for the specific purpose to locate all the containers which are in thousands and millions of places.
At some point, they my even better design them, so they can actually "float'... rather than sink like giant rock.

I plan to buy one myself, to make my own "storm shelter".... so, its certainly available, the minute I decide to spend the money to get it.
 
quote
June 13, 1973 —President Nixon ordered a freeze on all retail prices, including those of food, for as much as 60 days.
end quote

Yes, there should have been a price free...and it should have stayed in place during the cycles of Pandemic related stimulus funds being put into the system. Why put funds to stimulate the economy and let "greed suck it away". In the case of Pandemic, it was trying to give people a lifeline to try to keep their head above the water line, and greed monsters only see it as an opportunity to gouge and reduce the buying power of the stimilus funds that are allocated.

I don't expect Republicanism or Conservatism and Right Wingers and Libertarians to understand it, because they will always side with the "greed gouging" of the wealthy. Then these same Republicans, Conservatives, Right Wingers and Libertarians turn around and complain about the Government.
  • Why give people (for example) $100, and inflation eats up $25 dollars of it. You don't, you put price freeze's in place!!!!

Ahem.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_Stabilization_Act_of_1970
 
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