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Harris/Biden Scorecard, November 2021
Regular gas: $2.839 (up 37.88%)
DJIA: 36,319.98 (up 17.43%)
US Dollar vs. Yuan: 6.39 (down 1.39%)
30-year fixed mortgage rate: 2.875% (up 9.52%)
Price of gold/oz.: $1829.60 (down 0.47%)
Price of silver/oz.: $24.29 (down 3.69%)
Previous posts: 10/12/21, 9/14/21, 8/17/21, 7/13/21, 6/8/21, 5/11/21, 4/13/21, 3/9/21, 2/9/21, 2/2/21, 1/26/21, 1/19/21, Original post.
Published in Economics
Thanks to a suggestion from @arizonapatriot, I’ve included the percentage increase/decrease from the original post.
the DJIA being up is largely (exclusively?) the result of inflationary spending – pumping unearned money, by the trillions, into the economy. Actual production value has remained stagnant, or dropped. While some might view a rising DJIA as a benefit to our economy, the current reasons for it, are detrimental because of the inflation all are seeing. If you want to go all socio-economic, the people who get hurt by inflation are low and middle low class, and the young, who have no or relatively little invested in stocks, yet have to bear the brunt of inflation in every day life. A rising DJIA does not help that rather substantial part of the population. Rising inflation dramatically affects that substantial part of the population in far greater magnitude than it affects those in higher income, and more invested groups.
I agree that the DJIA and all stocks are way over-priced and inflated because of the Fed, but does the money the Fed pumps into stocks ever show up in any significant way as spending in the rest of the economy? How?
give a man a fish, he eats for a day. likewise, as the government sent out trillions in shutdown relief, excessive unemployment, and massive small business grants, these funds poured into the markets, both for consumable goods and in investments. This caused inflation in both. As these transitive funds cease, the previous recipients return to baseline or less in income, but the inflated prices remain, and continue to grow. These people are now scrounging around, trying to purchase everyday necessities at inflated prices with the same old income they used to have. I saw a report today, inflation at 8.6% as I recall. They play games with these numbers too. If they want to diminish the extent of inflation because a D is in control, they minimize it by removing “something ” from the formula. Likewise for the reverse if the party in control is R, then they use the formula that offers the worst possible results.
Oh, okay. Thanks. I thought you were saying that the money the Fed uses to prop up the stock market was causing inflation, but that seems to me to be soaked up and taken out of circulation. But yes, paying people trillions to produce nothing certainly causes inflation. This time seems different, though. This time it looks like it’s not more money but rather scarcity of product, like production has been slowed down and shut down (shhh! deliberately).
$2.85 a gallon? Is this in North Dakota? In Cali it is $2 a gallon more.
$3.09 in S. KY, best price on a recent trip to W. VA was $3.15 — worst was $3.79
It matters what the price was before the Biden policies upset things, but prices are up and going higher. Only those who are well insulated from inflation will not get hurt.
It’s been $3.29 here in central North Carolina for weeks. I get the feeling they are trying really hard not to go any higher.
We’re up to 3.60/gal for Diesel.
I believe in most states taxes on gas are fixed, though MI has 6% added on top of the fixed taxes, so the before tax increase Jose indicates in the OP is probably higher. Current on the pump price regular in my area, $3.449.
It also destroys our savings, as the good money we saved becomes worth less and less as inflation continues.
We are producing some things more and some less, as is always the case, but we’re still less than a year away from sound policy and the beginning of a robust recovery. It takes a while, but we were flat-out down, so there should be more rebound that could last well over a year. Then who knows? Is the administration doing anything that will cause an increase in production? As far as I can tell folks are buying real estate, especially in mostly Republican states, and building on it, but who is investing in production, innovation, high risk endeavors? Sincere questions, I don’t know.