Russians have gone on a gold-buying spree.
According to Russian media reports, investors in the country have bought a record amount of gold since 2014 despite prohibitively high taxes.
In November, the official government CPI rose by the highest annual amount since 1982. But for the most part, the mainstream media continues to sugar-coat inflation. Tucker Carlson is an exception. He’s one mainstream media figure who seems to grasp the full extent of the problem. He recently interviewed Peter Schiff on the rising cost of living.
The federal government continues to run big budget deficits as spending skyrockets. Increasing tax revenues are the only thing keeping the deficits from blowing up even further. But how long will this tax windfall last?
Even with the federal government ostensibly trying to limit spending with its head against the debt ceiling, it managed to run another massive deficit in November.
The budget shortfall last month was $191.34 billion, according to the latest Treasury Department statement. That was 31.7% higher than the November 2021 deficit.
The CPI data for November came in pretty close to expectations. Of course, expectations were sky-high as the transitory inflation narrative has faded into myth.
The CPI surged another 0.8% month-on-month in November. The consensus expectation was for a 0.7% rise. The headline year-on-year increase was 6.8%. That was right in line with expectations. It was also the highest CPI print since 1982. And as Peter Schiff talked about on his podcast, the CPI number understates the inflation problem.
The latest seasonally adjusted inflation rate for November was .76% month over month, with a non-seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.81%.
These numbers were generally in line with mainstream expectations that have finally gotten high enough to match the blistering hot inflation numbers coming out month after month.
Pretty much everybody now expects the Federal Reserve to go to war against inflation, but the central bank has a problem not many people seem to be talking about – an economy buried under debt. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about consumer debt levels and their ramifications. He also discusses central bank gold-buying and breaks the November CPI data live.
You’re being squeezed by inflation. You can’t find what you’re looking for at the store due to widespread shortages. And when you do find what you need, it takes forever to check out of the store because the labor market is completely out of whack.
But really, the problem is with you. Your expectations are just too high – at least according to Washington Post columnist Micheline Maynard.
American consumers piled on more debt in October as inflation continues to squeeze their pocketbooks.
Consumer debt grew by $16.9 billion, an annual increase of 4.6% (seasonally adjusted), according to the latest data released by the Federal Reserve. That raised total consumer debt to over $4.38 trillion.
Global ETF gold holdings increased in November for the first time since this summer.
Gold-backed ETFs saw net inflows of 13.6 tons last month. Total holdings rebounded from year-to-date lows to 3,578 tons. According to the World Gold Council, investment demand for larger gold ETFs returned with decades-high inflation and heightened market volatility.
