The latest seasonally adjusted inflation rate for July came in nearly flat at -0.03%. This was on the heels of a blisteringly hot June number of 1.35%.
While inflation did surprise to the downside, it had been expected to be much lower due to the fall in oil and drop in gasoline prices. The YoY number also fell as the reading from last July of 0.46% fell off the calendar.
As expected, the Consumer Price index cooled a bit thanks to falling gasoline prices. The question is will this give the Federal Reserve the excuse it needs bow out of the inflation fight?
The Consumer Price Index for July was up 8.5% year-on-year. That was down from June’s 9.1% print and slightly below the 8.7% expectation. Of course, an 8.5% increase in prices over the course of a year is still extremely hot.
The Federal Reserve is all-in on the inflation fight.
Or is it?
While everybody focuses on interest rate cuts, the promised Fed balance sheet reduction isn’t going quite as promised.
We get a lot of Orwellian spin out of Washington D.C. A recession isn’t a recession, Putin’s price hikes caused inflation, and now we’re told a massive spending bill will cure inflation.
Last weekend, the Senate gave final approval to the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act.” Despite the catchy title, it is nothing but a tax-and-spend bill. The pundit class insists this will not only cool inflation but will also lower the budget deficit. This is a pipe dream. As Ron Paul explains, the bill will not only increase inflation, it will also increase government spending and taxes.
Despite White House and media spin downplaying a recession, a lot of people aren’t buying. Fifty-seven percent of small business owners say a recession has already begun. Peter Schiff talked with Laura Ingraham about government spending, taxation, inflation, household debt and the recession. He said the recession is already worse than people think.
Jobs are on everybody’s mind as the July employment report comes out. Will the labor market show more cracks? Or will it give the pundits more room to spin the idea that we’re not really in a recession? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about the labor market and breaks the July jobs data news as it comes out. He also talks about the “health” of the American consumer and gold’s flirtation with $1,800 an ounce.
After the second straight negative GDP print in Q2, the markets began anticipating that the Federal Reserve would pivot away from its monetary tightening. But a few choice words from some Fed members this week caused thoughts of a pivot to pivot. As Peter Schiff put it in his podcast, it appears to be damn the recession! Full ahead with rate hikes. The question is how long can the Fed keep this up?
GDP fell 0.9% in the second quarter. This followed on the heels of a -1.6 GDP print in Q1. Back-to-back contractions in GDP have historically been defined as a recession, but the Biden administration and their apologists insist we aren’t in a recession. Peter Schiff appeared on the Megyn Kelly show to talk about the White House recession spin. He said this recession is just getting started.
Congress passed a bill to prop up the US semiconductor industry last week and is now considering a new spending plan dubbed the “Inflation Reduction Act.” On his podcast, Peter Schiff talked about the Democrats’ legislative agenda and concluded that the “Inflation Reduction Act” will do the exact opposite.
This week, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates another 75 basis points despite a second straight quarter of negative GDP growth. Meanwhile, Congress is debating a big government spending bill to “reduce inflation.” In this week’s Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey tries to unspin all of the spin and government propaganda to make some sense of what’s going on.
