How Is Inflation Affecting You?

[Not a Monkeys Uncle]

How Is Inflation Affecting You?

Prices are up across the board.
Its hurts the poor the most. Democrats lie when they say they care about the poor

 

[FA_Q2]

Where we are it is not uncommon to pay $1.28/lb for iceberg lettuce. That's right PER POUND not the head and this isn't organic lettuce. They also sell celery by the pound. First place I've ever lived where these two items were per pound. Typical head weighs about 2 lbs. Seventy miles away at Walmart that price is per head.

That is rather odd. Don't think I have ever bought lettuce per pound.

But Iceberg! Forget that, get some romaine, way better IMHO.

 

[OKTexas]

The yellow dot is Biden's first full month in office. Please explain how he has reduced supply when it has gone up 15% in a year

View attachment 600064

Imagine what it could have been if not for xiden, BTW oil hit 94.00 today.

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[Concerned American]

Imagine what it could have been if not for xiden, BTW oil hit 94.00 today.

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Because prices always increase when production increases by 15% dontchaknow. SMH.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Imagine what it could have been if not for xiden, BTW oil hit 94.00 today.

How much faster could production be raised? 15% in a year is a faster increase than under Trump or Obama.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Because prices always increase when production increases by 15% dontchaknow. SMH.

They do not normally, thus there must be something else going on the world.

Maybe it was the 20% increase in consumption of oil

Maybe it is Russia about to invade the Ukraine

Or it could all just be 100% Biden's fault.

 

[Concerned American]

100% Biden's fault.

BINGO!

 

[Harpy Eagle]

BINGO!

Damn, when they say the US president is the most powerful man in the world, they are not kidding I guess. Biden has made the price of oil and gasoline go up around the entire planet.

I am a bit surprised you assign him that much power and control, but hey you do you!

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

How much faster could production be raised? 15% in a year is a faster increase than under Trump or Obama.

So what do you think, that when efforts are made to increase energy it happens that day, week or month? Anything happening now with increased energy under Dementia had to do with Trump unless you can explain what energy policies this anti-energy President put in place.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

I know the feeling. I have an in house diesel mechanic for maintenance, brakes, air lines, electrical and external engine and drive train problems...but I also have a shop for computer and internal engine repair. I took it to the shop and there were trucks everywhere. I said to the owner "looks like you're busier than a one legged man at an ass kickin' convention".

Nope...70% of them were waiting on parts.

He said it has gotten so bad he has to send vin numbers of the trucks he needs parts for to keep folks from stocking up on parts they don't need immediately. I had to run a 60 Series Detroit for four weeks with the fan running continuously while waiting on a fan clutch. Luckily I have the type that defaults to on when it breaks. Folks with the other type are in for four weeks of equipment down.

So glad I'm retired. Nothing worse than using a rental truck for months on end.

Last summer I was talking about window replacement for one of my rental units with my cousin who has his own remodeling business. He said good luck, all my window jobs are 10 weeks behind. Because of the volume of business he does, these window companies cater to them first. I just gave up and said the hell with it.

 

[Not a Monkeys Uncle]

Prices will not stand still. Supply chains may normalize, relieving some of the pressure on transportation costs or prices on certain scarce goods, but that’s only one part of the problem.

We have a wage-price spiral taking hold thanks to a profound labor shortage that has been exacerbated by Biden’s vaccine mandates and generous COVID relief payments. Union bargaining has become more aggressive (see Kellogg and Deere), while both service and white-collar workers are able and eager to demand more pay. In addition, nearly half of states are poised to raise their minimum wage next year.

All of this will drive wages higher, creating more cost pressures and encouraging companies to raise prices. Already, many big corporations, such as Kraft Heinz and Campbell Soup, have announced plans to do so.

At the same time, government spending has skyrocketed, and the Federal Reserve has flooded the economy with cheap money. Since 2019 the Fed’s balance sheet has more than doubled, expanding by $5 trillion to nearly $9 trillion today. Looked at another way, the Fed’s balance sheet has grown from 20 percent of GDP to almost 40 percent.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has announced that the Federal Reserve will slow its bond purchases and has signaled as many as three rate hikes next year.

The Fed, which is predicting inflation of 2.6 percent in 2022, is still way behind the curve. Leading Wall Street economist Ed Hyman is forecasting that prices will rise by about 3.5 percent, and notes that Fed tightening takes more than a year to take effect.

Even as wages go up, they are not keeping up with rising prices. Inflation will remain top of mind for voters who connect the dots between higher prices and Democrats’ budget-busting bills. Reckless spending will provide an easy target for Republicans.

These 3 issues will clobber Democrats in 2022

Democrats have not just paved a pathway for a Republican sweep; they have provided a superhighway.

thehill.com

 

[B. Kidd]

Speak for yourself. I am very happy. I would not be happy in a shoebox. If you live in the equivalent in the US, you may juust be living in a blue run inner city.

Still, you gotta feel for seniors who worked hard, abided by the law, who are being thrown to the street due to inflation combined with 'the rent being too goddamned high'!!

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

U.S. All Grades All Formulations Retail Gasoline Prices (Dollars per Gallon)

2018-2019 there were five months when it was pennies under $3. That's without the pandemic.

What is it now?

$3.30?

OMG?!!!!@

Yes and under Bush and DumBama it was over $4.00 a gallon, which is normal in a stable and growing economy.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

This is really not a good idea. Any savings that you realize by getting it done now will be eaten up with the interest. If you pay it off the following month, that is a viable hedge, but CC interest is the really high. If they offer 12 months no interest--it could work, but you have to make sure you are not late on any payments and you have it paid off in the 12 months or they will come back and charge you the entire accrued interest--they know that many people will forget or slip and they are betting on it. Good luck. FJB.

I haven't paid interest on a credit card in over 20 years. The offers were few and far between during the start of the pandemic, but today I get the usual two to three 0% offers every week in snail mail.

Several years ago my home equity loan expired and the bank wouldn't renew it. I put the balance on a 0% credit card. Looking back I wish I would have done it earlier. By doing that it saved me thousands I would have otherwise paid on bank interest. Them not renewing my loan was the best thing they ever did for me.

 

[Ray From Cleveland]

If you house is a mess, do you move or do you clean it up?

Terrible comparison.

You see if socialism or Communism is so great, you can move to one of those places to try it out for a while. If you find out it was a bad deal, you can always move back to the USA, if they'll let you. But once you change this place into all the others and discover it's not what you thought it would be, there is no other USA to move back to. Once you change this country, it's gone forever.

That's why we on the right are trying to fight socialism and save this country. There is only one United States in the world, and we are doing everything we can to preserve it.

 

[OKTexas]

How much faster could production be raised? 15% in a year is a faster increase than under Trump or Obama.

You might want to check your chart again.

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[Concerned American]

I haven't paid interest on a credit card in over 20 years. The offers were few and far between during the start of the pandemic, but today I get the usual two to three 0% offers every week in snail mail.

Several years ago my home equity loan expired and the bank wouldn't renew it. I put the balance on a 0% credit card. Looking back I wish I would have done it earlier. By doing that it saved me thousands I would have otherwise paid on bank interest. Them not renewing my loan was the best thing they ever did for me.

I don't like credit--PERIOD. That being said, there are very few true zero interest CCs. I have one--if you pay the outstanding balance in full every month. I am one of the fortunates that also pay no annual fee so my CC is truly zero cost as long as I keep the outstanding balance paid up monthly. The banks hate these type of CCs and people like me who they call parasites because I use the CC for most purchases and get points and discounts because of the card. I haven't paid a dime in interest in around 20 years myself. However--if I DID NOT keep this card paid up, I would be subject to about 15% interest. The person I responded to was talking about maxing his card out to put a roof on as a hedge on inflation which is just not a prudent avenue to follow as I doubt the cost of the job would increase that much while he saved or found a 12 month, same as cash deal. Credit cards can be very useful if used correctly--the problem is many people don't take into account just how much that convenience costs if you fail to use good discipline with them.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

So what do you think, that when efforts are made to increase energy it happens that day, week or month? Anything happening now with increased energy under Dementia had to do with Trump unless you can explain what energy policies this anti-energy President put in place.

I do not think our oil producers give a flying fuck who is sitting in the White House. They cut back in 2020 due to a crash in demand, and now they are building back up. As you pointed out it take a while, 15% in one year is very big increase. And demand comes back almost instantly , thus supply cannot keep up...thus prices go up.

Right now the oil companies have not reason at all to increase production any quicker, 2021 gave them record setting profits, why would they want the price of oil to go back down?

 

[Harpy Eagle]

You might want to check your chart again.

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True, 18-19 it went up 18%, thanks for the correction.

 

[Concerned American]

I get the usual two to three 0% offers every week

These offers are usually deceptive. They usually come with an annual fee of around $45. They also use a deceptive way of figuring the interest. Eg. If the CC holder is like you and I and pay the balance monthly, there is no problem. But if you miss paying in full for one month and then return to full payoff, you will be charged interest on the "average balance for 90 days" So if you spend $1K each month for three months and pay only the minimum on that one month, you will be socked with interest on $1K for three months. These banks are betting most won't read the fine print.