Have y’all had a look at the newest inflation numbers yet? They’re really something:
Oof, this is bad inflation data for the US.
Core CPI m/m rose 0.6%, double the forecast. Topline rose 0.1%, instead of a forecast decline. Stock futures are plunging.
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) September 13, 2022
On the y/y figure: it was 8.3% (yes, down, vs 8.5% a month earlier & 9.1% before that). But the estimate was 8.1%. So it dropped by only half what was expected at a time with oil prices falling.
Core m/m inflation is in the driver's seat, and it doubled. That's the alarm here.
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) September 13, 2022
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) September 13, 2022
But food prices are down, right? Oh:
Wow. Keep an eye on skyrocketing food costs.
"The food index increased 11.4% over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending May 1979."
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) September 13, 2022
But at least wages are up, right? Oh:
Average hourly pay in America **adjusted for inflation** is -2.8% in the past year.
Inflation has been eating up wage gains since April 2021 and shows little sign of significant easing. pic.twitter.com/7CsAi8ltQx
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) September 13, 2022
Here's the chart for non-supervisory workers. Their pay adjusted for inflation is -2.4% in the past year. pic.twitter.com/MUlu0S8ceL
— Heather Long (@byHeatherLong) September 13, 2022
You know, now that we really look closely at the data, our economic situation actually doesn’t look so hot. It actually looks bad. Really bad. Like maybe Democrats’ spending spree has been really bad for our economy and we should be really pissed at them for getting us into this mess and doing everything they can to ensure that it not only sticks around but that it gets infinitely worse.
Recommended
Well, for what it’s worth, Democratic Senator Dick Durbin doesn’t think we should do that. Because according to Dick, none of this is the Democrats’ fault:
.@SenatorDurbin says it’s “Monday morning quarterbacking” to blame Democrats’ avalanche of spending for the inflation crisis
“There are a lot of people … trying to rewrite history” pic.twitter.com/cRpdsukz5B
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 13, 2022
Transcript:
Host: “There’s a lot of people — and not just Republicans — that say we’ve just spent too much money. We did […] we issued a lot of, um, debt, a lot of dollars, what the Fed did, a lotta programs. And then just this year: CHIPS Act, Inflation Reduction Act, student loan forgiveness, which I know you were in favor of. Any second thoughts whatsoever about maybe that that’s adding to the problems? And, you know, here we are, the Feds gotta basically orchestrate a recession, which hurts everybody, just, sort of, deal with all the overspending we’ve done. Any truth to that, in your view?”
Durbin: “Let me just say this. There are a lot of people right now Monday-morning quarterbacking — maybe it’s Tuesday morning in this context — but they, but they basically shouldn’t try to rewrite history. What we went through with the pandemic was unprecedented in the economy of America. A sustained period of time where there was a virtual time-out and a real question as to recovery. Look what’s happened with the number of people, the number of jobs that have been created under this president just in the last year and a half. And we see a lot of activity that is encouraging. Yes, there are the fires of inflation, and American families are fighting them, but gasoline prices are coming down, thank goodness, uh, and that’s a good indicator for a lot of Americans that they can have a little more confidence in the future of the economy. Now I look back on it, I really believe that what we did was extraordinary, but the circumstances were unprecedented in our history. We had to sustain businesses and their employees during one of the most difficult periods in our history.”
A few additional notes Durbin left out: gas prices are down in no small part because Joe Biden decided to deplete the strategic petroleum reserve. And make no mistake: he’s depleting it.
Not a meme stock or a collapsing currency, this is America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and this is before today's record release of 8.4mb, the largest ever. pic.twitter.com/yodSXxdjoO
— James Lavish (@jameslavish) September 12, 2022
So lower gas prices are artificially lower and will shoot back up again soon. Will that be an indicator of how much confidence Americans can have in the economy, Dick? Hmmm?
denial. unreal
— mysticjeff (@jeffreyeliot) September 13, 2022
Lying or stupid?
— Dick Meisterling (@MeisterlingDick) September 13, 2022
He’s lying, but he’s not stupid; he just thinks we’re stupid.
https://twitter.com/DarenJ66/status/1569677804169564161
Don’t let them lie to you anymore.
It is the direct consequence of electing Democrats, you lying POS. https://t.co/gLBfUwjdbu
— Karen, but not a Karen (@KPBeachGirl) September 13, 2022
Vote them the hell out already.
***
Related:
Dem Sen. Dick Durbin is NOT rolling out the welcome wagon for illegals Texas is sending to Illinois
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member