Category: Inflation
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
The Fed’s 2% Inflation Target Is Pointless / Economics / Inflation
By: Kelsey_Williams
Within the Federal Reserve sometime in 1996, a discussion took place among FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) members regarding the subject of inflation targeting. Federal Reserve District Governor (San Francisco) Janet Yellen believed that a little inflation “greases the wheels” of the labor market. Her preferred “target” was 2%. She asked Chairman (at the time) Alan Greenspan his preference.
The Chairman replied. “I would say the number is zero, if inflation is properly measured.”
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Monday, September 18, 2017
Inflation Lies, Lies and OMG More Lies / Economics / Inflation
By: James_Quinn
“There are three types of lies — lies, damn lies, and statistics.” – Benjamin Disraeli
Every month the government apparatchiks at the Bureau of Lies and Scams (BLS) dutifully announces inflation is still running below 2%. Janet Yellen then gives a speech where she notes her concern inflation is too low and she needs to keep interest rates near zero to save humanity from the scourge of too low inflation. I don’t know how I could survive without 2% inflation reducing my purchasing power.
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Friday, September 15, 2017
Higher US Interest Rates May Force Higher Inflation Rates / Economics / Inflation
By: Dan_Amerman
Summary:
1) Financial analysis of the three way relationship between interest rates, inflation and the U.S. national debt.
2) Higher interest rates causing higher interest payments on the $20 trillion national debt would ordinarily cause soaring deficits over time.
3) Detailed analysis of the "loophole", which is that if inflation even moderately increases - then interest rates can rise without exploding the real debt.
4) This simultaneous increase in interest rates and inflation would have a major impact on all markets, as well as long term retirement planning.
5) The logical response to rising interest rates may be to sharpen one's focus on how to better deal with higher rates of inflation over the long term.
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Wednesday, September 13, 2017
Soaring Inflation Plunges UK Economy Into Stagflation, Triggers Government Pay Cap Panic! / Economics / Inflation
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The consensus circus that the mainstream press journalists rely upon to produce their daily copy i.e. economists, have once more been caught by surprise as UK inflation rockets higher to 2.9% for August up from 2.6% for July. Now standing on the threshold of breaking above 3% as the implications of sterling's sharp drop in the wake of the Brexit vote continues to feed through to rising import prices and therefore providing persistent upwards pressure on shop prices as suppliers restock at much worse exchange rates that already depressed retailers such as the big supermarkets had delayed fully implementing that I have ben warning all year was likely to result in a crisis for the retail sector during 2017, that literally faces a perfect storm which could even result in a Woolworth's moment...
Tuesday, August 08, 2017
Is Inflation an issue or did the Fed Mess Up? / Economics / Inflation
By: Sol_Palha
Bankers know that history is inflationary and that money is the last thing a wise man will hoard.
William J. Durant
The Fed has been trying to create the illusion that inflation is an issue. The guys from the hard money camp also maintain that inflation is an issue and to a point they are right. Their definition of inflation is an increase in the money supply. The Fed, on the other hand, defines inflation as an increase in prices. The real definition of inflation is an increase in the money supply; rising prices are just the symptom of the disease. This article from mises.org summarises this concept quite succulently
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Wednesday, August 02, 2017
Greenspan Warns Moving Into “Stagflation Not Seen Since the 1970s” / Economics / Inflation
By: GoldCore
– Former Fed Chairman warns of bond bubble, stagflation
– “Moving into a … stagflation not seen since the 1970s”
– This will not be “good for asset prices”
– 10 Yr Gov bond yields fell from 15.8% in 1981 to 2.3%
– Interest rates will not stay low, will rise ‘reasonably fast’
– “Normal” interest rates in 4%-5% range
– Inflation will not stay at historically low levels
– Gold “protects savings” and is “store of value”
– Gold is the “ultimate insurance policy” says Greenspan
Monday, July 17, 2017
The Fed's Inflation Nightmare Scenario / Economics / Inflation
By: The_Gold_Report
Lior Gantz, founder of Wealth Research Group, analyzes how inflation will likely take off in the U.S., and why all of the condensed energy dammed up by the QE programs and the Fed asset purchases will explode all at once.
Wealth Research Group published an important update on the precious metals sector, which is trading in an unusual pattern, and how the bottom for junior mining shares is likely to play itself out in six to eight months.
For over nine years, central banks have been the front and center of the financial universe.
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Friday, June 30, 2017
The Fed Has No Control Over Inflation / Economics / Inflation
By: John_Mauldin
Ben Bernanke uttered the word taper in 2013, signaling that quantitative easing’s days were numbered. No one knew how the Fed would escape from years of QE and near-zero rates. But to her credit, Yellen accepted the challenge in late 2013.
She tapered the Fed’s bond buying down to zero (except for reinvestment of dividends and maturity rollovers) and began the rate-hike cycle. But that hasn’t normalized interest rates.
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Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Shrinkflation In UK – Real Inflation Much Higher Than Reported / Economics / Inflation
By: GoldCore
- Shrinkflation – Real inflation much higher than reported and realised
- Shrinkflation is taking hold in consumer sector
- Important consumer, financial, monetary and economic issue being largely ignored by financial analysts, financial advisers, economists, central banks and the media.
- Food becoming more expensive as consumers get less for price paid
- A form of stealth inflation, few can avoid it
- Brexit is the scapegoat for shrinkflation by the media and companies
- Consumers blame retailers rather than central banks
- Gold hedge has doubled in value since 2007
Wednesday, June 21, 2017
Inflation is No Longer in Stealth Mode / Economics / Inflation
By: GoldCore
- IHS Markit index shows UK households pessimistic about finances for 2017-18
- UK household finances remain under intense pressure from rising living costs
- 58 percent of respondents expected higher interest rates in 12 months time
- Inflation in the United Kingdom currently at near four-year high
- Prices up prices by 2.9pc year-on-year, biggest annual increase since June 2013
- In May consumer spending in the UK fell for the first time in almost four years
Monday, June 19, 2017
Raise the Inflation Target and Put a Date on It! / Economics / Inflation
By: Michael_Pento
Raise the Inflation Target and Put a Date on It! That’s the direction some high-profile economist and former members on the FOMC want to go. According to these academics, including Narayana Kocherlakota the former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis from 2009 to 2015, raising the inflation target just isn’t enough. They want to put a time horizon on it as well. In other words, they want to raise the inflation target higher than the current 2% level, and then place a firm date as to when that inflation goal must be achieved.
Thursday, May 04, 2017
New Risk for Investors: Fed Considers Jacking Up Inflation Target / Economics / Inflation
By: MoneyMetals
Stefan Gleason : Investors are under-estimating inflation risk. As a consequence, they are under-pricing inflation protecting assets including precious metals.
The Federal Reserve has given itself the objective of engineering an inflation rate of around 2%. However, there are many ways in which real-world inflation can potentially outpace the Fed’s 2% target.
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Thursday, April 06, 2017
From Inflation to Imflation, Agflation and Munflation / Economics / Inflation
By: Submissions
Vakhtang Charaia and Vladimer Papava write: Inflation is an important macroeconomic indicator for the analysis of an established economic situation as well as forecasting the economic development for any country. The “consumer basket,” which helps to indicate the consumer price index (CPI) or the average inflation rate, incorporates several commodity groups and given the correspondent weights encompasses different goods and services. Some of the commodity groups (e.g. electronics, new and used cars, furniture, hotel and restaurant services, etc.) fails to reflect the problem of the low-income population.
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Tuesday, March 21, 2017
UK Stagflation, Soaring Inflation CPI 2.3%, RPI 3.2%, Real 4.4% / Economics / Inflation
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The implications of sterling's sharp drop in the wake of the Brexit vote were inflationary resulting in an an increase the price of imports and therefore has been exerting upwards pressure on shop prices as suppliers restock at the worse exchange rate that already depressed retailers such as the big supermarkets had delayed fully implementing that is likely to result in a crisis for the retail sector during 2017 that literally faces a perfect storm, that could even result in a Woolworth's moment...
Friday, March 10, 2017
Is Inflation a problem? / Economics / Inflation
By: Submissions
Chris Marchese writes: Since “Surprise 16” when Donald Trump won the presidential election, he has made it clear that if he has his way, he will enact inflationary policies. These include increasing defense spending and infrastructure spending, while at the same time reducing government revenue via decreased income and corporate tax rates.
To achieve this objective, money must be created, which could be referred to as “helicopter money.” This is a more direct way of increasing the money supply, using fiscal policy as opposed to monetary policy.
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Wednesday, March 08, 2017
Inflation the Opium of the Masses, What The Hell Is Going On? (2) / Economics / Inflation
By: James_Quinn
In Part One of this article I exposed the establishment narrative of a strong economy as rubbish by providing hard data regarding imploding gasoline usage, failing bricks and mortar retailers and plunging restaurant sales.
“Inflation may indeed bring benefits for a short time to favored groups, but only at the expense of others. And in the long run it brings ruinous consequences to the whole community. Even a relatively mild inflation distorts the structure of production. It leads to the overexpansion of some industries at the expense of others. This involves a misapplication and waste of capital. When the inflation collapses, or is brought to a halt, the misdirected capital investment—whether in the form of machines, factories or office buildings—cannot yield an adequate return and loses the greater part of its value.Nor is it possible to bring inflation to a smooth and gentle stop, and so avert a subsequent depression.” – Henry Hazlitt – Economics in One Lesson
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Thursday, March 02, 2017
Have Central Banks Finally Achieved the Unthinkable, Inflation Unleashed? / Economics / Inflation
By: Graham_Summers
Globally inflation is on the rise.
On Monday Spain reported a year over year 7.5% jump in its PPI reading (a measure of inflation). Take a look at that chart.
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Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Global Inflation Surges, Central Banks Losing Control and Triggered the Wage Price Spiral? / Economics / Inflation
By: Nadeem_Walayat
Whilst in Britain, inflation focus is on the surge in prices following the BrExit vote that triggered a 20% drop in sterling which is slowly but steadily feeding its way through the supply chain and heralds a nightmare 2017 for already distressed retailers such as Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer that is literally facing a crisis which I have been covering in a series of videos the latest of which follows a BBC investigation into its 'fake' shelf prices duping customers into buying products at expired offer prices.
Monday, February 06, 2017
Inflation – What It Is, What It Isn’t, And Who’s Responsible For It / Economics / Inflation
By: Kelsey_Williams
Inflation is the debasement of money by the government. PERIOD.
It is NOT a general increase in the level of prices for goods and services.
The above statements are critical to an understanding and correct interpretation of events which are happening today – or expected to happen – that are casually attributable to inflation. So, let’s go one step further.
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Wednesday, February 01, 2017
He'll Bring Them Inflation, and They Will Love Him for It / Economics / Inflation
By: Gary_Tanashian
I used to make fun of the FOMC rate hike "decision" language in the mainstream media because under the Obama administration and its economic policies overseen by the Fed's monetary policy, there really was no decision, was there? It was ZIRP-eternity, interrupted by a lone and token rate hike in December 2015 (the Dec. 2016 hike does not count because the transition to a new administration and policy regime was already known; in effect, the Fed has already made its first hike under Trump).