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US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

theguardian.com

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Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#61

Post by jriot »

mattmoose21 wrote: post #41

Reading this article and going through these comments make me realize that while I know what these words are I have a real lack of understanding how this stuff works. This may not be the best place to ask but do any of you guys have any recommendations on where to learn more about economics? Preferably something with good historical context.

Basic Economics - Thomas Sowell

Economics In One Lesson - Henry Hazlitt

The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War - Robert Gordon

Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#62

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

JackPoach wrote: post #7
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #4

People need to decide whether they think this is because of supply chain issues and the demand spike following COVID or if it's because of the Fed.

Clearly the Fed mostly. We'll see it once the supply chain issues go away, but high prices stay high.

I remember thinking $50k was an awesome salary when I first started working. Now I think "damn how do families survive off that kind of household income" after seeing essential goods and services cost roughly 1.5x what they were pre stimulus.

Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#63

Post by kesselvon »

throwawaygh wrote: post #43
nimbius wrote: post #26

You need to take this seriously. the reason you should be concerned about these prices in relation to their 2008 crisis prices is because the countermeasure that resulted in 2008 relief --Quantitative Easing-- cannot be used again because we effectively never quit using it to prop up the last decade of commercial market performance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing#US_QE4 the Federal reserve also has…

> the Federal reserve also has no leverage to modify the prime interest rate to combat this inflation, as it already sits near-zero ...huh? If you want to lower inflation you'd typically raise interest rates... (These sorts of stupid-simple mistakes are pretty typical from inflation fearmongers in threads like this one... a lot of words that make it sounds like they know what they're talking about but sprinkled with…

You can tell they're fresh because there was a big fear of inflation because of quantitative easing. Thinking of QE as a solution to inflation is really something else.

Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#64

Post by makomk »

garden_hermit wrote: post #21
AnthonyMouse wrote: post #4

People need to decide whether they think this is because of supply chain issues and the demand spike following COVID or if it's because of the Fed.

Wouldn't the evidence of inflation occurring in other countries suggest that COVID is its primary driver, rather than a specific monetary policy? (though it does seem that the scale of inflation in the U.S. is a little higher than elsewhere) See for example: UK: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/boe-chief-economist-says-uk... Australia: https://www.reuters.com/business/australia-core-inflation-sp... China: https://www…

Other countries seem to have been pursuing broadly similar monetary policy to the US, at least in the Western world - even the EU and its member states have got in on it this time around.

Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#65

Post by starkd »

nimbius wrote: post #26

You need to take this seriously. the reason you should be concerned about these prices in relation to their 2008 crisis prices is because the countermeasure that resulted in 2008 relief --Quantitative Easing-- cannot be used again because we effectively never quit using it to prop up the last decade of commercial market performance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing#US_QE4 the Federal reserve also has…

Not sure how Amazon can "step in" and raise wages will somehow save this. Earlier raises in the minimum wage have been largely erased by inflation already. Another round of raises just pushes prices up more.

Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#66

Post by nbardy »

alphabettsy wrote: post #36
BitwiseFool wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that if Red Team had won the election Blue Team would be running news stories every day about the dangers of inflation and how it is hurting the middle class. Instead, we are seeing pundits downplay inflation as either something 'transitory' or something beneficial: "Why the inflation we're seeing now is a good thing" -MSNBC tweet that got deleted. Edit: "Yes, inflation is back, and you should probably be reli…

I'm told that NYT, WaPost and others are all solidly Blue Team and yet they seem to be running stories about inflation and how much it's risen daily. It's not a good thing in my opinion, but who's to say it's not transitory?

It's never "transitory", thats a bullshit world the Fed is using to keep people call. The prices are never going to go back to normal even if the rise of inflation ends we don't go back to normal prices unless things deflate.

Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#67

Post by BitwiseFool »

alphabettsy wrote: post #36
BitwiseFool wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that if Red Team had won the election Blue Team would be running news stories every day about the dangers of inflation and how it is hurting the middle class. Instead, we are seeing pundits downplay inflation as either something 'transitory' or something beneficial: "Why the inflation we're seeing now is a good thing" -MSNBC tweet that got deleted. Edit: "Yes, inflation is back, and you should probably be reli…

I'm told that NYT, WaPost and others are all solidly Blue Team and yet they seem to be running stories about inflation and how much it's risen daily. It's not a good thing in my opinion, but who's to say it's not transitory?

Yes, they are running stories about inflation. I think the key difference is how they're going about doing it. I sense that they are intentionally covering the situation in non-inflammatory way. This is a departure from how the NYT and WaPost will cover a story when they have an ideological axe to grind. For instance, they bring on experts to talk about inflation in an clinical and analytical way. They talk about the benefits of inflation to try an reassure people it is okay. They aren't going to some small town and taking candid shots of average Joes and Janes looking sad and worried about rising prices. While they mention rising wages, they aren't emphasizing how the rise in wages is lower than the inflation itself. In essence, I sense they are trying to avoid having people get riled up whereas if Red Team were in charge they'd be painting the picture as bleak and terrible.

Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#68

Post by anm89 »

throwawaygh wrote: post #43
nimbius wrote: post #26

You need to take this seriously. the reason you should be concerned about these prices in relation to their 2008 crisis prices is because the countermeasure that resulted in 2008 relief --Quantitative Easing-- cannot be used again because we effectively never quit using it to prop up the last decade of commercial market performance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_easing#US_QE4 the Federal reserve also has…

> the Federal reserve also has no leverage to modify the prime interest rate to combat this inflation, as it already sits near-zero ...huh? If you want to lower inflation you'd typically raise interest rates... (These sorts of stupid-simple mistakes are pretty typical from inflation fearmongers in threads like this one... a lot of words that make it sounds like they know what they're talking about but sprinkled with…

Right but with massive debts and a fairly weak economy that is show signs of continuing to slow, this is exactly why the Fed is between a rock and a hard place.

The smart mmoney is on rates staying low for a long time which shows you just how powerless the Fed is right now.

They would LOVE to raise rates. They can't.

Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#69

Post by unethical_ban »

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #59
BitwiseFool wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that if Red Team had won the election Blue Team would be running news stories every day about the dangers of inflation and how it is hurting the middle class. Instead, we are seeing pundits downplay inflation as either something 'transitory' or something beneficial: "Why the inflation we're seeing now is a good thing" -MSNBC tweet that got deleted. Edit: "Yes, inflation is back, and you should probably be reli…

I know HN doesn't like it when you criticize the US left but I'm here with you. I didn't buy a single word out of the Biden administration pre-election. The "never Trump" people were so blinded by Trump that they didn't realize the other guy was a worse bought and paid for puppet than Hilary. Hilary at least had a functioning brain and could reign in the Dems. Biden doesn't even know it's Wednesday.

Let's avoid turning things overtly political. It's understandable that government policy will be discussed in a thread about inflation, but it does no help on HN to veer into everyday smearing.

Re: US inflation jumps to 31-year high amid global supply chain crisis

#70

Post by m0llusk »

MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #47
simonsarris wrote: post #13

I've mentioned before [1] but these prices still don't seem that serious. Most prices have still not beat their highs made in 2008-2014 (crude oil, global energy price, eggs, milk, sugar, rice, chicken, pork chops). Ground beef is an outlier, however. And US price per kwh is back at its peak, though it declined in these October numbers to be below... 2014 numbers again. [2] So while the climb up is bad, the prices th…

Cereal I could buy for $3 and granola bars I could buy for $2 now cost $4.30 and $3.29 respectively. Detergent that was $5 is now $7.50. McDonald's cheeseburgers are $2 on their own. That is the largest jump of inflation I've ever experienced in such a short time.

That is not a lot of information, though. Processed food has been harder hit than real food and areas that are entirely dependent on trucking because of a lack of ports or rail also have seen much greater impacts.
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