Category: Inflation
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
China Now Exporting Inflation Abroad / Economics / Inflation
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Most of us have been waiting for higher inflation to erupt on the scene for some time. Government statisticians have been able to avoid the reality of market place. How many million words have been written on these web sites on nonsense of core inflation? Simplistic nature of that measure, which ignores developments in prices for oil and Agri-Food, is about to come back to haunt those policy makers that have hidden behind it. Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Offical Fairytale Inflation Statistics / Economics / Inflation
By: Andy_Sutton
Someone ought to consider changing the calendar. Maybe adding a few extra days so that next month the shock of double-digit annualized increases in import prices can wear off before we're told there is actually no consumer price inflation. The mainstream financial press quickly leapt onto the bandwagon with headlines such as “Inflation remains tame”, “Consumer prices stable” or the most ridiculous, “High Gas prices aren't affecting consumers”. I couldn't help but wonder what planet these folks are living on. It certainly isn't this one. Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Inflation and the Fed Interest Rate Policy to Continue to Drive the Dollar Lower / Economics / Inflation
By: Joseph_Brusuelas
The interesting and generally questionable conclusions in the April consumer price report provided a false sense of comfort in global financial markets that we believe will be temporary. The finding that the cost of domestic gasoline fell -2.0% month over month during a time when prices at the pump soared well above $4.0 per gallon in many areas was behind the modest official increase in the cost of living for the month. However, savvy market participants that follow the inflation data closely understand that the seasonal adjustments often tend to overshoot the true nature of the data and are prone to monthly revisions. We expect that the data in the coming months will be revised to reflect the reality of what is occurring in the price environment. Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Government Inflation Data Does Not Match Reality / Economics / Inflation
By: Gary_Dorsch
In an age where governments of every political stripe distort economic data to promote their own self-interests, it's hardly surprising that they present inflation statistics that are wildly at odds with the reality faced by consumers and businesses, and regarded with utter disbelief. In the latest US government report on inflation for instance, there was a glaring “seasonal adjustment,” for energy prices that cast great doubt as to the accuracy of the findings. US Labor Dept apparatchniks said consumer prices rose a smaller than expected 0.2% in April, tamed by energy prices, which were unchanged last month. Utilizing an obscure “seasonal adjustment,” Labor figured that gasoline prices actually fell 2% in April, which doesn't reflect the reality of what consumers were paying at the pump. Furthermore, the IMF's global food price index rose 43% over the last 12-months, but the US consumer price index for food is only 5.1% higher.
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
UK Flawed Inflation Measure Explodes Higher, 3% CPI, 4.2% RPI / Economics / Inflation
By: Nadeem_Walayat
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) leapt higher to 3% in April from 2.5% in March, nearly hitting the Bank of England's letter writing trigger level of 3.1%. This confirms the Market Oracle expectations for a surge in UK inflation as not only the UK but all of the worlds major governments are engaged in the process of rampant money supply growth that is feeding through in higher inflation as too much cash is chasing too few goods. This is most visible in the commodities markets where strong price fundamentals coupled with the Bank of England's money supply printing presses running at full stream as evidenced by the £100 billion of new debt loaned to the banking sector in recent months.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, May 12, 2008
Inflation Fear / Economics / Inflation
By: Paul_J_Nolte
With all the hand wringing about consumer confidence falling to 25+ year lows, it becomes much easier to understand IF we make the assumption that we are in a recession. Others worry about the self-fulfilling prophesy – if we believe we are in a recession, it will be so. However much of what is happening today was planted over a year ago. This too is the reason for why all the rate cuts made by the Fed have had little impact upon investors and the economy. However, the cuts will eventually have an impact – but that is not likely until later in the year. A complicating factor in today's economy is the lack of lending “interest” by banking institutions. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, May 02, 2008
Ben Bernanke is No Paul Volcker / Interest-Rates / Inflation
By: Peter_Schiff
With what many have described as a flash of monetary discipline worthy of Paul Volcker, Ben Bernanke reduced short-term interest rates this week to a mere 2%, apparently turning a deaf ear to those on Wall Street who wanted more. But now that the dollar-crushing side effects of cheap money are widely understood, there is, in reality, little pressure remaining for steely-eyed Ben to resist.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, May 02, 2008
Inflation v. Unemployment / Economics / Inflation
By: Gerard_Jackson
It says much about the lousy state of economic debate that the 1993 study The Costs of Unemployment in Australia , produced by the Economic Planning and Advisory Council and co-authored by Raja Junankar and Cezary Kapuscinski, is still being touted as a piece of sound economics. At the heart of this study is the grave economic error a "fight inflation first" policy generally incurs more costs than benefits.Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Credit Crisis IS Over, the Old Inflation Crisis Returns / Interest-Rates / Inflation
By: Adrian_Ash
"...Is the foreign US bond-buyer now going on strike, just when the Treasury needs him to pay for tax rebates, investment bank bail-outs, and the first raft of post-Election housing aid...?"
CRISIS OVER then; the Fed has worked its magic! And things will only get better from here.
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Wednesday, April 30, 2008
US Federal Reserve Wants Inflation to Avoid Deflation / Economics / Inflation
By: Axel_Merk
We are now importing inflation. This does not only apply to the cost of commodities, such as oil, but also to consumer goods imported from Asia. This is a newer trend as, in our analysis, Asia had been exporting deflation until the summer of 2006; since then, we have seen increased pricing power by Asian exporters. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Will the US Fed Create More Inflation in Commodities? / Commodities / Inflation
By: Clif_Droke
Inflation has been investors' main focus lately. A commonly held assumption is that the Fed's aggressive lowering of interest rates will only result in more inflation and an even bigger bulge in commodities prices. Is this a necessary outcome of increased liquidity and lower rates?
Let's examine this belief. Historically, we find that Inflation basically occurs in three situations:
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Monday, April 28, 2008
Hyperinflation- The High Road To Hell / Stock-Markets / Inflation
By: Captain_Hook
If that's where we are going, which appears to be the case depending on your perspective, we might as well take the high road (meaning via hyperinflation), as at least this way our feet are more likely to stay dry during the trip. Isn't this a much better rationale to justify why we humans are in such a hurry to use up the non-renewable resources that are key to our survival? Moreover, isn't it a better way of accounting for why central planners are allowed to debase our currencies / economies than simple greed and ignorance, because even at a slower pace, the oil will be gone soon enough anyway. Here, the assumption is our population bubble is function of easily accessible liquid crude oil, and that once supplies become increasingly strained (as in Peak Oil ), so will our survival. Naturally, most people, who have what they would term an ‘optimistic view' of the future, shun such thinking, dismissing it as pessimism entertained by the ‘lunatic fringe'. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, April 25, 2008
Government Bailouts Weapons of Mass Inflation / Economics / Inflation
By: Adrian_Ash
"...Dark secrets known only to top-level officials; the public good trumping public disclosure; urgent action needed to avert disaster – haven't we been here before...?"
IN THE EMERGING economies of East Asia , governments face fresh rioting if food prices keep soaring.
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Wednesday, April 16, 2008
US Actual Inflation Trend Heading for Stagflation or Deflation? / Economics / Inflation
By: Jas_Jain
Inflationists have been crying wolf for the past three plus years despite the fact that the annualized headline CPI, including food and energy, and not seasonally adjusted, for 12M, 6M, and 3M has fluctuated around the 20-year trend of 3%+- (yes, the annualized inflation in the US for the past 20 years is 3.08%). As a matter of fact, despite huge run up in crude oil and agriculturals during the past year the CPI rates in the graph are below their highs during 2005-07. Labor costs are by far the most dominant contributor to the CPI. Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
40 Years of Real Interest Rates and, 80 Years of Dow/Gold Ratio / Economics / Inflation
By: Adrian_Ash
"...The infamous Dow/Gold Ratio just touched its long-run historic average. So which way next amid the Fed's inflationary melt-up...?"
IF WALL STREET STOCKS can surge 160 points on falling earnings, an 11% drop in housing starts, and a 16-year record for consumer-price inflation, then so can everything else that doesn't carry a picture of George Washington.
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Rising Inflation Pushes Commodity Prices Higher / Commodities / Inflation
By: George_Kleinman
Last week, the Federal Reserve released the minutes from its March 18 Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. At that meeting, the Fed cut the fed funds rate by 75 basis points to the current level of 2.25 percent. The FOMC's post-meeting statement said, “Downside risks to growth remain. [The] outlook for economic activity has weakened further.” Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The Great TV Price Inflation Scam / Economics / Inflation
By: Tim_Iacono
Anyone wanting to better understand one of the primary reasons why we are in such an economic mess these days need look no further than the history of television prices over the last half-decade or more.
Actually there are two versions of TV prices - the real world "in"-flation experience and the government's "de"-flation version.
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Saturday, April 05, 2008
Inflationary Losers in the Great Solvency Slump / Economics / Inflation
By: Adrian_Ash
"...Counting the winners and losers of the Great Solvency Slump so far – and guessing at the big winners to come..."
YOU DON'T HAVE TO be a rabid libertarian or Marxist historian with leather patches on his jacket to look at the current world banking crisis and ask " Cui bono...?"
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Thursday, April 03, 2008
Where's the “Protection” in Treasury-Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) / Interest-Rates / Inflation
By: Michael_Pento
Every investment product on planet earth is designed to at least offer a chance at a positive, real after-tax return. Put another way, all investments are designed to bring you a return that is greater than the rate of inflation. Some offer a higher stated yield because of their inherent risk, while others display smaller yields due to their perceived relative safety. But all true investments are designed to outpace inflation.Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Inflation, Gold and the Government / Economics / Inflation
By: David_Petch
Inflation as defined by Ludwig von Mises, “Inflation is defined as monetary expansion through introduction of physical fiat currency or issuance of credit”.
Printing money has a delayed effect to hit the system; it will be circulating in the system and travel through a series of bubbles. The end game for inflationary cycles results from excessive money chasing commodities. The phenomenon of inverse relationships between bull markets in broad market indices and commodities is well known…commodity prices decline to such low levels that supplies become critical, thereby driving up prices. An example of delays in pricing hitting the consumer lies in examination of Producers Pricing Index (PPI) and the Consumers Pricing Index (CCI).
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