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U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

bls.gov

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Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#881

Post by chaorace »

starkd wrote: post #260
chaorace wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, well... they make their own predictions, so it's not really a matter of whether the public trusts the Fed as long as they are internally unified. Public inflation expectations certainly do play a role in inflation, but, as Volcker showed us in the 80s, it doesn't matter how much credibility you have with the public if you're willing to slam on the brakes hard enough.

But I think a lot of the Fed's strategy was jawboning the rate increases - aka offering "forward guidance". Notice how the rate hikes were fairly measured and tepid. They didn't even start the actual QT until a few months ago. There's a limit to how effective jawboning is, and it requires the public have credibility in the Fed to do so. Eventually, you have to back it up with actions.

That's a fair point, but let's also consider that markets tend to overreact to rate hikes. The public's languid response to the Fed's inching of the interest rate may actually be a desireable outcome.

If they were truly going for shock & awe, it would have been much more effective do one single 2% hike rather than breaking it up over 3 adjustments.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#882

Post by ahoy »

edhelas wrote: post #608
mirker wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But when you think about it, what’s the benefit of driving? For reasonably short drives you don’t save much time with parking in cities and you don’t get any exercise.

Damnit, don't tell the secret to car-people. We want our bicycle paths not too-overcrowded :p

Hah, speak for yourself! I want 20x as many bikes out there.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#883

Post by [deleted] »

randomdata wrote: post #813
NotTameAntelope wrote: post #810

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

What is it that you thought? Your comment is unclear. That you, deep down, knew your appeal to emotion would fail? Being from the West, my uneducated, tribalist-driven opinion says that Russia is not justified. But, again, not my area of expertise and not a subject I have much interest in. I do, however, enjoy the subject of language which is why I am participating in this conversation about the use of language. Let'…

[deleted]

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#884

Post by jollyllama »

jmoak3 wrote: post #805
jollyllama wrote: post #431

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question. It's destroying the money to the extent that it's servicing government debt.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but when servicing gov debt, isn't that money simply distributed to gov debt holders? Looking at https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/national-debt/ and https://datalab.usaspending.gov/americas-finance-guide/debt/... it appears the largest holder is the "public". Is that through treasuries sold by the US gov? If so, we wouldn't be "destroying" money by funding these. The federal reserve has large…

I'm not sure as to the specifics of this scenario, but as a general rule, the paying of debt is the destruction of money, because the debt now no longer exists on the balance sheet of the creditor. And I believe that's applicable here.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#885

Post by mminer237 »

tstrimple wrote: post #352
mminer237 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true. 73% of Republican want more solar farms and 62% want more wind farms: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/06/08/most-americ... This also tracks with my experience. I know tons of conservative people who are leasing their farms out to build windmills or installing their own solar panels.

Let's just ignore that the number of Republicans supporting renewables has dropped 15% in the last 5 years and is still trending down.

Because of partisan divisions like the parent comment was trying to further. Conservatives have no ideological opposition to renewable energy, some are just starting to oppose it because "the team likes it" and politics is becoming more about tribalism than actual policy. If people stopped trying to paint people on the other side as "the enemy", we wouldn't have these kinds of issues forming.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#886

Post by brianwawok »

post_break wrote: post #189
brianwawok wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you shop it? Many house insurance companies give you a 10-50% new client discount, that slowly goes away year by year. The only choice is to jump ships every few years.

I have an insurance agent who shops it to every carrier. I jump around every year but it doesn't help too much because the insurance for the insurance companies are tightening their belts.

Your agent takes a cut, you may be able to save more going alone if you are willing to do the legwork.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#887

Post by [deleted] »

randomdata wrote: post #813
NotTameAntelope wrote: post #810

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

What is it that you thought? Your comment is unclear. That you, deep down, knew your appeal to emotion would fail? Being from the West, my uneducated, tribalist-driven opinion says that Russia is not justified. But, again, not my area of expertise and not a subject I have much interest in. I do, however, enjoy the subject of language which is why I am participating in this conversation about the use of language. Let'…

[deleted]

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#888

Post by ryathal »

dangus wrote: post #675
weberer wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you live in the USA, a Costco membership is very worth it.

Unpopular opinion, Costco isn't that great. - Too many items force you to buy insane quantities that don't make sense even for a 4 person family. The meat, for example, is great quality and value, but it's very hard to make steak or chicken taste good after being frozen, and in no universe should I be eating 4 huge steaks within the refrigeration shelf life. I can never use their giant tub of sour cream or shredded c…

The biggest reason I don't like Costco is that it really isn't cheaper than other bulk clubs, or grocery stores for that matter other than Whole Foods or other "premium" stores. Costco has higher prices because they slap organic/non-gmo/free range/etc. labels on most products and the markup isn't worth any perceivable quality increase. The low SKU and frequent rotation of products is also frustrating because I can't count on staples being available, so it also caused more trips elsewhere to find everything I actually need.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#889

Post by coolspot »

mjh2539 wrote: post #427
bamboozled wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your mortgage repayments won't go up too?

Mortgage payments are composed of: principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Some people may have their HOA dues also bundled in, but most don't. In any case, HOA dues are usually pretty small (like less than $500 per year), unless you live in a condominium or a neighborhood with really expensive stuff owned by the HOA, in which case they can sometimes exceed the other components of the mortgage payment. Most folks…

My HOA is $700…

…per month.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#890

Post by koboll »

s1artibartfast wrote: post #835
BurningFrog wrote: post #833

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Economic activity" is a basic concept in Economics. An online dictionary defines it as "the activity of producing, buying, or selling products or services" .

Which means nothing. Is 10 people collecting acorns and trading beads more economic activity than 9 people making and selling jet planes?

This entire line of argument over whether we are in a technical recession is pointless and dumb. We are in a uniquely weird economic situation that is clearly bad but less bad than a typical recession, and it would be improved if inflation fell.
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