09/16/22

Embedded Inflation

Do y’all recall when inflation was “transitory?” When the Secretary of the Treasury and the POTUS used to assure us that inflation was going to come and go? That the target would continue to be 2% – which, in fact, it had been?

Well it’s more than a year later and, clearly, that is not going to happen. In fact, we are in this inflationary spiral for the long term — meaning three years until there is any relief.

How did we get here, Big Red Car?

Let’s review the bidding to see how we got here, shall we?

This chart is not lying to you. Study it.

Continue reading →

09/12/22

Quiet Quitting

Once the folks have left the farm and seen Paris, it is hard to get them back in the traces. During the pandemic — which is officially over, right? — the work force got used to working from home.

WFH had huge real and perceived benefits: no commute, no cost to commute, no commute stress, no time lost in commuting, pajamas, improved work-life balance meaning you could jam personal time into company time, and a sense of control over things.

WFH also extracted huge costs in the employer – employee relationship.
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09/7/22

The German Blunder, Chancellor Merkel’s Disaster

In late September 2018 — four years before the Russian invasion of Ukraine — the American President gave a speech, a prescient and foretelling speech, at the United Nations in which he cautioned the German nation not to become dependent upon Russia for its energy needs.

President Donald J Trump in a reflective moment before giving his best foreign policy speech at the United Nations at the high point of his tenure.

In that speech the American President said:

Reliance on a single foreign supplier can leave a nation vulnerable to extortion and intimidation. That is why we congratulate European states, such as Poland, for leading the construction of a Baltic pipeline so that nations are not dependent on Russia to meet their energy needs. Germany will become totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course.

He was referring to the completion of NordStream II and the continuing operation of NordStream I.

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08/25/22

Renting Votes and Forgiving College Debt

President Biden announced he is unilaterally — meaning without the joinder of Congress which is supposed to control the Federal purse — forgiving college loan debt of $10-20,000 (Pell Grants) for individuals making up to $125,000 or families making up to $250,000.

The Committee for a Responsible Budget scores this Executive Order as costing somewhere between $440B to $600B.

There has been both a huge outcry against and for this policy. Here are some thoughts.

The Facts

1. Total college loan debt is more than $1,750,000,000,000 – that is $1.75T. This is bigger than credit card debt in the US. Hello, America!

Credit card debt is about $850,000,000,000 — $850B — versus college loan debt of $1.75T.

Total auto loan debt in US is $1.45T. Continue reading →

08/23/22

The Chinese/Mexican Fentanyl Invasion of the United States

As you are undoubtedly aware, the Biden admin has declared the US – Mexico border to be open and accessible to all peoples from the world over.

There is a bloody flood of illegal immigrants disregarding the legal pathway to immigration and inundating the border. This is as a result of the Biden policy of free flowing open border.

In accordance with that declaration, since Inauguration Day, the Biden admin has admitted more than 2,000,000 “refugees” seeking asylum — yes, they are all anxiously and diligently awaiting a court proceeding some 18-24  months in the future to determine their status. And, yes, they will appear. [This is sarcasm.].

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08/11/22

Testing The Depth Of American Stupidity

Yesterday, the Consumer Price Index report came out showing that the CPI increased by 8.5% (seasonally adjusted) year-over-year. This means that the CPI is 8.5% higher than it was in July 2021.

Wages were 5.5% higher, so you only lost 3% in buying power. Haha. Sorry.

[I personally find this incomprehensible as every commodity and food stuff I look at is wildly more expensive over the last year than 8.5% — eggs are up by 40% — but that’s just me.] Continue reading →