The Federal Reserve is set to launch its war on inflation. But it looks like it’s carrying a pea-shooter to a gunfight.
Or as Peter Schiff put it, a dove can’t change its feathers.
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 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.
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.
The stock market rallied early this week with receding worry about the omicron variant, but the specter of Federal Reserve monetary policy tightening remains. In his podcast, Peter Schiff talked about the anticipation of the Fed’s fight against inflation and explained why it’s a fight the central bank can’t win.
The October trade deficit fell but the drop was primarily due to a data anomaly.
October 2021 charted a total trade deficit of -$67.1 billion. It was the lowest trade deficit since April 2021. Month-on-month, the trade deficit fell 17% from the record set in September.
Inflation is running rampant. At first, the powers that be tried to convince us it wasn’t a problem because it was just a temporary phenomenon caused by coronavirus. (As if a virus could cause the money supply to increase.) But now, the transitory inflation narrative is dead. Jerome Powell recently admitted that it’s time to “retire” that word. The new strategy seems to be to try to convince you that rising prices are “good for you” and the broader economy. You can decide for yourself the veracity of that argument.
That was one weird jobs report.
The labor department released the November employment data on Friday. The numbers simply don’t make any sense. As one chief investment officer put it, “One of the weirdest reports I have ever seen.”
One thing seems pretty certain. The labor market has not recovered, no matter how the powers that be spin the numbers.
